E.—l

The qualifications of the teachers are steadily improving. Table M shows that in three years, among the teachers above the rank of pupil-teacher, the number of those who have passed the certificate examination has been increased by 240, while the number of those who have only obtained partial pass has been reduced by 54, and the number of the remainder by 23. The table relates to a date before the examinations of 1894; when these are taken into account the result is the transfer of 48 names from the list of the unqualified to that of the qualified. In other words, 1,988 out of 2,201 teachers have passed examinations for certificates. The annual publication of the full list of certificates in the Gazette will occur at the end of this month.

TABLE M. —Teachers Certificated and Uncertificated, 31st December, 1893. (Numbers in brackets represent licensed teachers included in other numbers.)

The annual reports of the thirteen Education Boards are printed in the Appendix (pp. 59-91), including the statements of their accounts, which are summarised in Tables No. 4 and No. 5 (Appendix, pp. 4, 5), and the following is an abstract of them : —

TABLE N. — Abstract of Receipts and Expendituke of Boabds. Dr. £ s. d. Cr. £ s. d. To Balance, Ist January, 1893.. .. 51,098 17 6 By Boards'administration .. .. 11,360 10 11 Government grants— Inspection and examination .. 11,882 10 3 Maintenance .. .. .. 350,465 13 11 Teachers'salaries and allowances, and Buildings .. .. .. 47,273 0 0 training .. .. .. 328,828 13 8 Reserves revenues .. .. .. 37,169 11 0 Incidental expenses of schools .. 35,302 19 6 Local receipts— Scholarships .. .. .. 7,073 7 10 Fees, donations, &c. .. .. 2,349 6 11 Interest.. .. .. .. 207 9 0 Rents, sales, &c. .. .. 552 610 Buildings, sites, plans, &o. .. .. 44,387 2 4 Interest.. .. .. .. 487 18 9 Refunds and sundries .. .. 659 2 4 Refunds, deposits, &c. .. .. 1,014 14 6 Balances.. .. .. .. 50,709 13 7 £490,411 9 5 £490,411 9 5 The income of the Boards for the year was on the whole (see Table N) within £400 of their expenditure; and the net value of their balances—when the total of debit balances is deducted from the total of credit balances—is, as shown in the table, £50,709 13s. 7d. It appears, however, from Tables O and P, that, if thrown into one account, these balances, amounting to £50,709 13s. 7d., would only meet liabilities and leave the small balance of £6,880 in hand. Distinguishing between Building Account and Ordinary Account, only five Boards (those of the Districts of Taranaki, Wanganui, Marlborough, Otago, and Southland) had available balances in both accounts; while Wellington and North Canterbury were deficient in both. In the following cases the surplus in one account exceeded the deficit in the other: Hawke's Bay, Nelson, Westland, and South Canterbury. In the remaining cases—Auckland and Grey—the surplus in one account was outweighed by the deficit in the other.

VIII

Education Districts. o I en 'M, 3 ° ©-75 .a aa 3 <d a rt' po ID I id * a 111 C) r—1 ■3 H Pupil-teachers having Certificates, not included in Column headed " Certificated Teachers." Auckland Taranaki Wanganui Wellington Hawke's Bay Marlborough Nelson 413 51 111 153 78 30 79 24 25 345 84 386 135 'i [i] 1 3 i 1 *2 [1]14 [1] 2 4 [1] 7 [2J 9 [ljii 2 [l] 3 [2] 25 5 [1] 4 2 [2] 5 2 [2] 4 3 [2] 16 3 [1] 2 1 [1] 2 [1] 1 3 [1] 2 [2] 5 16 9 [2] 5 ■ 27 27 7 18 4 [1] I 436 60 138 172 97 60 135 36 44 376 94 394 159 24 2 22 2 2 5 1 Grey . . Westland North Canterbury South Canterbury Otago Southland i 1 2 7 5 i 1 [4]'6 "9 '5 Total for 1893 Total for 1892 Total for 1891 Total for 1890 1,914 1,826 1,753 1,674 4 6 7 5 22 19 17 21 88 94 107 142 48 ,54 58 57 125 131 132 139 2,201 2,130 2,074 2,038