E.—l.

With the increase of free places in secondary schools, the necessity of making direct provision by scholarships for enabling pupils to pay the fees for instruction will gradually disappear, and the money thus set free might very reasonably be used by the Boards to increase the number of boarding scholarships, in order that more scholars from country districts may have the advantages of secondary education. University and Colleges. The report of the Chancellor of the University of New Zealand is a separate paper (E.-6). The number of graduates admitted or qualified for admission now amounts to 819 admitted and 85 qualified for admission—9o4 in all. Of the 819 admitted, 360 have the degree of B.A. alone; 21 B.Sc. alone; 23 LL.B. alone ; 3 B.Sc. in Engineering alone ; 1 M.B. alone ; 49 M.B. and Ch.B. alone ; 2 Mus. Bac. alone; 245 M.A. alone; 4 LL.I). alone; 5 M.D. alone; and 2 D.Sc. alone. The graduates upon whom degrees in more than one faculty have been conferred are : B.A. and B.Sc, 8; B.A. and LL.B., 19; 8.A., M.8., and Ch.B., 5; 8.A., B.Sc. and M.8., Ch.B., 2; B.Sc. and M.8., Ch.B., 2; M.A. and B.Sc, 30; M.A. and LL.B., 17; M.A. and D.Sc, 4; M.A. and MB., Ch.B., 4; M.A. and LL.D., 3. The number of degrees authorised to be conferred after the examinations of 1902 was 85; 8.A., 35 ; B.Sc, 9 ; LL.B., 6 ; M.B. and Ch.B., 10 ; Mus. Bac, 1; M.A. 22; LL.D., 1; M.D., 1. As appears by the Chancellor's report, the number of candidates who were examined at the usual examinations in November and December, 1902, and in January and April, 1903, in the faculties of arts, science, medicine, law, and music, and for admission to the legal profession, was 1,434. The number of students at affiliated colleges in 1902 was 864, of whom 320 were women. Of these students, 581 were matriculated at the University of New Zealand. The numbers in attendance at the several colleges were as follows : University of Otago, 134 men and 52 women matriculated, and 38 men and 11 women not matriculated; at Canterbury College, 108 men and 43 women matriculated, and 14 men and 60 women not matriculated; at Auckland University College, 81 men and 33 women matriculated, and 42 men and 81 women not matriculated ; and at Victoria College, 101 men and 36 women matriculated, and 26 men and 4 women not matriculated. The reports of these colleges are papers E.-7, 8.-8, E.-9, and E.-10 respectively. " The Univeesity Endowment Act, 1868." The income accrued under this Act, and applicable to purposes of higher education yet to be determined by Parliament, amounted, on the 31st March, 1903, to £6,284 2s. Id., as follows : Canterbury reserves, £2,265 3s. 10d.;. Westland, £262 2s. 6d.; Taranaki, £3,756 15s. 9d. Civil Service Examinations. As usual the Civil Service Examinations were conducted this year (in January) by the Education Department simultaneously with the examination for teachers' certificates. There were 439 candidates for the Junior Civil Service Examination, and the names of 282 were published in order of merit in the Gazette of the 26th February. For the Senior Civil Service Examination there were 120 candidates, of whom 21 passed. Further particulars are given in the report of the examination (E.-la^>. Public Libraries. By a vote of last session a sum of £3,000 was again granted for subsidies to public libraries. Forms of application were sent to all libraries known to the Department, and notice was inserted in the Gazette of the 28th October, 1902. The method of distribution of the vote was the same as that adopted in the previous year, as follows: A nominal addition of £25 was made to the amount of the income of each library derived from subscriptions, donations,

XXXIV