E.—l

XIV

For the purpose of replacing schools or school property damaged or destroyed by fire, £313 9s. 6d. was paid to Auckland, £973 2s. lid. to Taranaki, £300 to Wanganui, £2,365 6s. 3d. to Wellington, £240 to Marlborough, £387 3s. 3d. to Nelson, £30 10s. to Otago, £194 Bs. to Southland : total, £4,803 19s. lid. The basis of the payments for the reinstatement of buildings destroyed by fire was —for buildings not over twenty years old, the full cost at present current rates, and for other buildings the same, less the amount which the Government is presumed to have paid towards their rebuilding (included in the ordinary grants for maintenance and replacement as explained above). Special grants for additions to schools, rendered necessary by increased attendance, and for new school buildings were made as follows : — Additions.—- Auckland, £3,524 15s. 6d. ; Taranaki, £1,253 ; Wanganui, £788 17s. 3d; Wellington, £1,390 ; Hawke's Bay, £375 ; Nelson, £1,412 ; Grey, £100 ; Westland, £60 ; North Canterbury, £788 ; South Canterbury, £844 19s. Bd. ; Otago, £1,450 ; Southland, £349 18s. : total, £12,336 10s. sd. New Schools.— Auckland. £2,380 11s.; Taranaki, £775; Wanganui, £1,289 7s. 7d. ; Wellington, £988; Hawke's Bay, £719 2s. 6d. ; Grey, £738 11s. 6d. ; North Canterbury, £58.7 3s. Id. ; South Canterbury, £410 ; Otago, £1,490 : total, £9,377 15s. Bd. Finances op Education Boards. Table G is an abstract of the accounts of the receipts and expenditure of Education Boards for the year 1905. These are tabulated in detail on pages 6 and 7 of the Appendix, and the annual reports of the several Boards with their statements of receipts and expenditure are also printed in the Appendix with full detail. Comparing the figures in Table G with those for the previous year we find that the expenditure on teachers' salaries was £426,343 19s. 6d., as against £406,303 Bs. 2d. for 1904. This increase of over £20,000 was caused by the operation of " The Education Act Amendment Act, 1904," which provided considerable increases for teachers of small schools. The Act of the 1905 session will, it is anticipated, cause an increase inHhis item of over £30,000, in addition to that created by the usual increase in the number of schools and in the average attendance. It is confidently anticipated that these very considerable increases in the salaries of school-teachers, especially those of the smaller schools, will remove the difficulty lately experienced in securing the services of competent teachers. There has also been a considerable increase in expenditure for manual and technical instruction and for school buildings, house allowance, &c. TABLE G.—Abstract of the Receipts and Expenditure op Education Boards, 1905. Receipts. £ s. d. Expenditure. B s. d. Balance, Ist January, 1905 .. 29,230 11 9 Boards' administration .. .. 32.G75 0 0 Government grants — Teachers" and pupil-teachers' salaries, Rents from reserves .. £49,236 6 8 and pupil-leachers' lodging-allowances 426,343 19 6 Balance of giants for Incidental expenses of schools— salaries of teachers and Oidinary .. .. £33,043 10 0 pupil-teachers .. 370,753 2 4 Capitation at 9d. .. 4,369 5 8 Allowance at £250 and 37,412 15 8 rapitation .. .. 73,507 4 6 Salaries of relieving-teaehers .. .. 2.G50 2 G Oiher grams .. .. 11,688 8 10 Scholarships and secondary education .. 24,698 111 Training of teachers .. .. .. 5,057 4 7 Total for mainten- Manual and technical instruction .. 25,055 17 5 ance .. .. 511,185 2 4 Buildings, house allowances, sites, &c. .. 101,552 19 8 Scholar.-liips and district Refunds and sundries .. .. 1,953 13 0 high schools .. 22.67S 11 5 Balance, 31st December, 1905 .. .. 20,923 7 1 Manual and technical instruction .. .. 20,702 14 11 Buildings and teachers' house allowances .. 86,458 13 7 Total from Government. .. .. 641,025 2 3 Local receipts— Fees, donations, &o. .. 6,071 7 9 Interest, rents, &c. .. 1,215 14 6 7,317 2 3 Refunds, fines, &o. .. .. 1,380 5 1 £G75,953 1 4 £078,953 1 4 The percentage of the several Boards' income expended on administration (including in this term all the items which are included under that heading in Table G —-viz., salaries of office staffs, Inspectors, Truant Officers, &c, and the ordinary