5

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know nothing of cookery. Any one can figure to himself the results that are likely to follow. There should be a Chief Inspector, who should have, among other duties, a general supervision over the whole system. There has been a good deal of talk about undue punishments in schools, and various charges against teachers have been made, which, by the way, were all shown to be baseless. But nothing has been said of the injuries inflicted on teachers by their pupils. Yet these have been inflicted, and very serious ones too. Why do we hear nothing of these ? I would remark that the Board is entirely losing sight of one of their most important duties —the regulating of the number of pupils to be allowed to attend each school. They cannot get rid of their responsibility by hiding their head in the sand—by shifting the duty on to Committees. Some of the appointments recently made by Committees are notoriously bad. The effect of all these things I have mentioned, and. of many which I have not mentioned, may not be apparent at present. The foundations of the system have been too firmly laid. But a persistence in the ignoring of Inspectors in the making, or consenting to, bad appointments and the like cannot go on very long without making the whole system, not merely to totter, but to tumble clown. I have, &c, E. J. O'Sullivan, The Chairman, Board of Education, Auckland. Senior Inspector of Schools.

The Board submits for the information of the Minister of Education the following notes on the report of the Senior Inspector of Schools : — 1. Division op District.—The schools visited by the Senior Inspector during the year 1887 were those in the southern division of the education district, being about one-third of the whole number. The reports of the other two Inspectors, Mr. Goodwin and Mr. Fidler, deal with the schools in the northern and central divisions respectively. 2. Appointments of Teachebs.—Except in small schools, for which a duly-certificated teacher cannot be obtained, no teacher is appointed who does not hold a certificate of competency from the Minister of Education. In the promotion of teachers the Board is guided by the written reports of the Inspectors upon their teaching, and in the promotion of assistant teachers the Board has a further guide in the quarterly reports which head teachers are required to furnish upon the members of their staff. The report speaks of " appointments recently made by Committees." This is an error. Committees have the right to recommend any teacher for appointment, but all appointments are made by the Board. 3. School at New Lynn.—The circumstances of the building of a school at New Lynn are widely different from those stated by the Senior Inspector in his report. 4. Employment op a Chief Inspectob.-—Until three years ago a Chief Inspector exercised a general supervision over the whole system. The Board then determined to alter that arrangement, and to hold each Inspector separately responsible for the district under his inspection. The change has effected a largo saving in the cost of inspection, and the Board sees no reason to revert to the old system. Auckland, 20th April, 1888. J. H. Upton, Chairman.

TAEANAKI. Sir,— Education Office, New Plymouth, 22nd February, 1888. I have the honour to submit my report on the schools of the district for the year ending 31st December, 1887. The visits required under the existing regulations have been complied with in the case of each school. In carrying out those visits I am placed somewhat at much personal disadvantage and hardship by the arrangement and position of the schools. Without lateral communication in many instances, I am compelled to take many daily journeys of from twelve to fourteen hours from New Plymouth as a centre. The schools, open only for four and a half hours a day, must be reached in time—or the children's working day be unreasonably lengthened—-to overtake the yearly increasing labours of the Inspector. Teachers, also, are continually removing ; consequently inspection, to be thorough and complete, demands more than a formal visit, if it is to be beneficial alike to teacher and scholar. The day, or several days, have invariably been given to the work of inspection, or the examination of each school; and occasionally, when at inspection I have been unable to speak favourably of a teacher's work, the report has been withheld until a subsequent visit. Year by year, as the attendance and the number of the schools advance, the expense required to efficiently perform the duties of inspection will increase. Additional visits have also been paid to a fair number of the schools where the work was either doubtful or the teachers showed a desire to obtain any practical advice. In the latter part of the year a course of lessons was undertaken by a number of teachers who had kindly offered their services. The lessons were given on the Saturday at the Central School, New Plymouth, and were well attended by teachers, and also by the pupil-teachers, to the latter of whom the actual travelling expenses were allowed. An average attendance of thirty showed that the lessons were appreciated, and the hints on processes and methods gained have been introduced with good effect into the teaching at many schools. Much care was taken to provide classes of children to whom the work of the lesson was unknown, as well as to adapt the teaching to the condition of the scholars. The time-table, also, was arranged to afford model lessons in various subjects, and these were in a few instances, when required, illustrated by simple experiments and handy apparatus. Lessons were likewise given by the pupil-teachers, and their efforts afterwards criticized by the teachers present. In addition to the supervision of the lessons I was able to make good progress in introducing the study of model-drawing, which appeared to interest all attending. Time did. not allow of any attempt to give singing lessons, but I hope that before long a class will be formed with