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No. 3. REPOET OF THE INSPECTORS OF TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION. Sir, —■ We have the honour to report as follows on the state and progress of manual and technical instruction in the colony during the year ending the 31st December, 1906. A. Manual Instruction. Manual instruction in one form or another now finds a place in the curriculum of a large number of primary and secondary schools. During the year approved classes were held in connection with nearly a thousand schools, as against 850 schools in 1905. The total number of classes for all subjects was 3,839, an increase of about 800. Details of the number of classes in the several education districts and of the subjects of instruction are given in Table B on page 6. It is gratifying to note that instruction in the various branches of elementary handwork is being co-ordinated more and more with instruction in other subjects of elementary education. Time and experience have shown that some forms of handwork lend themselves more readily to coordination than others, with the result that an examination of the time-tables shows that attention is being directed, in the main, to the former to the exclusion of the latter. There are indications that the time is not far distant when instruction in certain branches of handwork will be made incidental to the general work of the standards. Plasticine, paper, cardboard, bricks, and the brush are now being largely used as aids to teaching rather than as material for use in connection with set courses in handwork. As evidencing the changing attitude of many teachers with regard to the place of handwork, the following remarks may not be out of place. In paperwork, the folding of objects and the plaiting and weaving of patterns have largely given place to exercises affording opportunities for instruction in elementary geometrical notions, in arithmetic, and in measurements. In bricklaying, the bricks are now seldom used for the purpose of exercises in building alone. They are used in conjunction with drawing, and as material for exercises in oral composition and in elementary mensuration. Drawing with the brush, which not so very long ago meant the making of patterns with brush impressions on squared paper, and little else, is now regarded by many teachers as a valuable aid to drawing in outline with the pencil, affording, as it does, opportunities for direct drawing of objects in mass. The excellent display of examples of elementary and advanced brushwork at the International Exhibition in Christchurch included some creditable exercises in direct drawing with the brush from natural objects. Many of these exercises were connected with courses of instruction in nature-study. In cardboardwork, while the sole object, in certain instances, still appears to be the making of models of which no use is afterwards made, yet in an increasing number of schools in which this branch of handwork is taken up the work is not limited in its application to the extent that it was formerly. There is no doubt that cardboard-work properly treated can be made a valuable aid in teaching elementary plane and solid geometry, model-drawing, and elementary mensuration. We venture to repeat the example given in last year's report as indicating the kind of work we have in view. The form of a given geometrical solid is discussed and analysed, the pupils being encouraged to discover the best method of construction; the " net " of the model is then carefully set out in cardboard, and the construction of the model is proceeded with. A dimensioned freehand sketch of the finished model is then made, and the plan, elevation, and perhaps an isometric view and section drawn to scale. The area of each face and the total surface-area of the model are next calculated, and the relation between the faces, edges, and angles noted. Turning now to the more specialised forms of handwork in which instruction is given in the schools, it may be said with regard to woodwork and cookery that, although a marked improvement is noticeable in certain classes both in methods of instruction and in class-work, there are still many ways in which the instruction could be made of greater educational value. In the majority of cases there appears to be little or no attempt to co-ordinate the instruction with the instruction in other subjects of the school course. This defect is probably largely due to the fact that the instructors, for various reasons, some of which seem at present to be unavoidable, rarely come into contact with the general work of the school. As regards woodwork, the instruction generally is on sound lines, the chief defect being a tendency to underrate the importance of drawing both as an integral part of the instruction and in its relation to bench-work. In some cases the drawing and the bench-work appear to be but remotely connected, whereas no pupil, especially in the earlier stages of the course, should be allowed to work an exercise in wood or to construct a model without having first made the necessary working drawings, which should be before him and used by him when working at the bench. Greater prominence could with advantage be given to demonstration lessons on the various tools, not so much with the view of endeavouring to remove all the difficulties in connection with the use of them, but in order that pupils may be helped to use them intelligently. The course of instruction should also include suitable lessons on the growth and properties of timbers in common use in the colony, while exercises in practical arithmetic and in mensuration having a direct bearing on the bench-work would not be altogether out of place. The educational exhibits at the Christchurch Exhibition included many excellent examples of pupils' work, illustrating the courses in woodwork carried out in several education districts. In the majority of the cookery classes the instruction in the practice of cookery is being carried out on systematic lines. This, viewed from a strictly utilitarian standpoint, is well. We should, however, be glad to see more evidence of endeavours to make the instruction of greater educational value than is at present the case, by the introduction into the course of instruction of