E.—lc.

8

So far Taranaki has not been represented at all in the College by a single student A or B. Nelson, while strongly represented in its B students, has not furnished any under Division A. According to the departmental report of 1906, there are in Nelson twenty-five pupil-teachers, and in Taranaki twenty-four. Need of Trained Teachers. —lt may be noted here in passing that the total number of pupilteachers in the employment of all the Education Boards in the Middle University District is 261. Counting three years (and this is probably too high) as the average length of the pupil-teacher's course, eighty-seven should complete every year. When it is considered that the highest number of ex-pupil-teachers admitted so far in any one year has been thirty-four, it will be understood that mora than half of those who enter the profession by way of apprenticeship receive no further training than can be given them as pupil-teachers. When it is further borne in mind that, out of 916 adult teachers in the Middle University District, 229 have no examination status whatever, it will be abundantly evident that the need for bending all our energies towards improving the average status of our teachers is very urgent. So far I have represented the needs of our primary schools. These are more insistent, and, I take it, more urgent, than those of the secondary schools. But a glance at the figures following will show that a very fair proportion of our students are setting their faces towards secondary work, and that the College is serving its purpose as a training-ground for secondary- as well as for primary-school teachers : — 4. Secondary-school Teachers. —Arranged according to University status : — M. F. Total. M.A. ... 0 1 1 B.A. ... 1 5 6 First section B.A. ... ... ... ... ... 1 8 9 Sitting first section B.A. ... ... ... ... 1 4 5 Kept one year's terms ... ... ... ... 10 24 34 This list shows twenty-one students who are wholly or partially qualified to take positions in secondary and in district high schools. Add to this the number of graduates who pass into the secondary schools direct from the University, and we may conclude that the supply of teachers for secondary schools is not likely to fall short. Duration of Period of Training. —The majority of the students enter with a view to a full two-years course of training, and it is advisable that they should. Only in exceptional cases has the one-year's course been agreed to. These cases hitherto have all come under Division A. 1 would suggest that, in the case of B students who have before entering gained the Master of Arts degree, and who could not conveniently prolong their period of training, a one-year's course might be accepted, provided that the major portion of the year of training be devoted to the practical side of the College work and to the study of the principles and history of education. At the end of the year forty-six students retired, all of whom have completed a full two-years course. Some fifteen of them received appointments before the end of their term, and others have been appointed since, so that before long all who are eligible for appointment will have been settled. In seeking appointments the students have not limited their choice to their own district, but have applied irrespective of district for positions for which they were eligible and suitable. A certificate showing the courses of practical and theoretical instruction undertaken at the College and containing a general estimate of their proficiency in the art of teaching was awarded to all who had satisfactorily completed their course. A copy of the certificate is appended. Winter School — Special Course for Selected Teachers. —In accordance with suggestions made in last year's report a special three-weeks course of instruction adapted to the needs of teachers working in localities removed from centres was arranged. The number of teachers to be selected was limited to twenty, apportioned to the various Boards thus : Wellington and Wanganui, 4 each; Nelson and Hawke's Bay, 3 each; Maryborough, Taranaki, Grey, and Westland, 2 each. Some of the Boards failed to provide their quota, and the final selection was made up as follows: Wellington and Wanganui, 5 each; Nelson, 4; Marlborough and Grey, 3 each; Hawke's Bay, 2. The travelling.expenses of those attending were defrayed by the Education Department. The course of work was framed chiefly with a view to the needs of teachers having sole charge in a small country school. It included : — (1.) Instruction in the management of the country school. (2.) Illustrative blackboard drawing. (3.) A course dealing with records and experiments suitable for school-work in natural phenomena—wind, rain, &c. (4.) Observation in the practising-school, more particularly in the country school and infant departments. (5.) Educational handwork for junior classes. The students undertook their work with zeal and enthusiasm, and their united testimony was that the contact for even so brief a time with the College was to them a great gain. They had received an impetus which would enable them to attack their own work with fresh spirit. Not a few of the twenty were teachers of considerable experience—men and women who had already done good service in their own district. Though it was not for such that the course was originally intended, yet I feel that for them, too, the opportunity of seeing the various teachers at work was a source of fresh light and inspiration. The advantage of such a course is not all on the side of the visiting teachers. The College itself is a great gainer in that it comes into closer touch with the actual needs of schools. To be occasionally brought face to face with the difficulties of those in actual service will enable us more effectually to plan our work for the students who will in time fill these places. I would recommend that, this year or next, a similar course be held either for the same class of teachers or for the assistants in two-teacher schools.