71

E.-l

John Joyce was elected to fill the vacancy. At the same meeting Mr. Peryman was elected Chairman of the Board, Mr. Weston, Mr. Anson, and Mr. Saunders members of the Appointments Committee, and Mr. Westenra, Mr. Wright, and Mr. Joyce members of the Buildings Committee. The former committee resigned on the 19th June, and for some time its functions were discharged by the Board as a whole; but, subsequently, on the 11th September, it was resolved to reconstitute the Appointments Committee, to which Mr. Anson, Mr. Meredith, and Mr. Weston were elected. On the 10th July, the hour for holding the ordinary meetings of the Board was changed from 2 p.m. to 11 a.m. The Board met twenty times during the year, including two special meetings; the Buildings Committee met eighteen times; and the Appointments Committee thirty times. School Buildings.—No new districts were formed during the year ; but tow 7ards its close preliminary steps were taken for the formation of districts at Winchmore, Waltham, New Brighton (Beach), and Doyleston. New schools w 7ere built at Little Biver and New Brighton; a site was acquired for a school at Waltham ; additions were made to the schools at Clarkville, Hampstead, Ladbrooke's, and Waikari; and considerable improvements and repairs to the schools atAshburton, Brookside, Christchurch East, Christchurch W Test, Kowai Bush, Loburn, Lyttelton, Pigeon Bay, Southbridge, Templeton, View Hill, Wainui, Winslow, and the Normal School. The total expenditure on buildings was £5,131 2s. lOd. Maintenance of Schools.—The expenditure on teachers' salaries (including all allowances) amounted during the year 1890 to £51,606 7s. Id., and the grants to Committees for incidental expenses to £6,615 13s. Id., making a total of £58,221 os. 2d. The average attendance for the year was 17,044. The cost per head for teachers' salaries was therefore £3 os. 6-J-d.; and the total cost of 'maintaining the schools, including all incidental expenses, was £3 Bs. 3fd. per head. For the year 1889 the cost of salaries was £3 os. 2Jd. per head ; and of the total cost of maintenance, £3 7s. lid. The slight increase in expenditure on salaries results from a revision of the scale adopted by the Board on the 6th March, which made some addition to the salaries of the teachers in charge of schools with an average of less than forty. The following table shows the expenditure on salaries and incidentals for each year from 1878 [only partially reprinted] : — Year. Salaries. Incidentals. Totals. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. 1878 31,919 0 0 ... 6,276 C 9 ... 38,195 6 9 1888 50,749 14 6 ... 6,400 7 5 ... 57,150 6 3 1890 51,606 7 1 ... 6,615 13 1 ... 58,221 0 2 Table No. 7* gives the amount spent in each school district for both salaries and incidentals, and the names and salaries of the teachers employed in each school. The total number of teachers in the Board's service at the end of the year (besides forty-two sewing-mistresses) was 535, viz. : heads of schools or departments, or in sole charge—l36 males, 55 females ; assistants—32 males, 123 females; pupil-teachers —57 males, 132 females. Attendance. —The number of school districts at the end of 1890 w 7as 146, and the number of separate schools, including the practising department of the Normal School, was 163. Of these, one, at Gough's Bay, was an '' aided " school; another, at Winchmore, had been for some time carried on upon the footing of an " aided " school, but, in consequence of the number of children in regular attendance, was, towards the end of the year, raised to the position of an ordinary district school. The schools were classified as follows : Under 15 pupils, nine; 15 and under 20 pupils, six; 20 and under 25 pupils, fourteen; 25 and under 50 pupils, fifty-two; 50 and under 75 pupils, twenty-six ; 75 and under 100 pupils, seventeen ; 100 and under 150 pupils, eleven ; 150 and under 300 pupils, sixteen; 300 and under 500 pupils, six; 500 pupils and upwards, six. Returns of the number and ages of the children, and of the number receiving instruction in each subject, are appended. The following table shows the total number of children on the rolls, the number in average attendance, and the percentage of attendance for each year since the Education Act came into operation [only partially reprinted] : — Quarter ended District Aided Total ~ ~ ~ Average TJ , 31st December. Schools. Schools. of Schools. un-JSon. Attendance. leroentage. 1878 ... 106 ... 4 ... 110 ... 13,647 ... 10,076 ... 73-83 1888 ... 155 ... 1 ... 156 ... 20,388 ... 16,395 ... 80*42 1890 ... 161 ... 2 ... 163 ... 21,240 ... 17,869 ... 84*12 Inspection.—The Inspectors' annual report gives full information as to the amount of progress made during the year, with statistics showing the results of the examinations. It is gratifying to find that the proportion of children presented in standards is on the increase, and that, with the exception of the two highest standards, in which the results are somewhat inferior to those of last year, the Inspectors can report a fair advance in efficiency and general attainment. During the year the Board had before it a question relating to the conduct of Inspectors' examinations, and came to the conclusion that it would be better if the test-cards, now prepared by the Inspectors of each district for their own use, were drawn up by the department. Such an arrangement, it was considered, would secure more uniformity in the examinations, would be more satisfactory to the teaching profession, and would be less liable to produce friction between the teachers and the Inspectors. Normal School.—The Normal School has continued to make satisfactory progress. At the Inspectors' examination, the practising school took a creditable place among the large city schools. In the training department, thirty-eight students (four senior and thirty-four junior) were admitted at the beginning of the year, of •whom ten had matriculated and pursued their studies at Canterbury College. Of the twenty-eight for whose instruction the tutors of the training department are entirely responsible nineteen entered for the matriculation examination in December last, and all succeeded in passing; while all the students, with the exception of one, who was obliged to retire

* See pages 34-41, ante.