82

E.—s

Extract from the Report of the Managers of the Oamaru Technical Classes Association. The Managers, on submitting their annual report, have to chronicle a fairly successful year, and are pleased to be able to say that the Association is now in possession of a school well equipped and conveniently adapted to the requirements of students. The number of students enrolled during the year was 556, and the number of classes was 44, but the Managers feel that greater advantage should be taken of the facilities offered for improvement, and hope that the coming year will see a further increase. Thanks are due to the Press for their assistance, to Mr. Forrester for various services, to the Middle School Committee for use of rooms, and to the examiners and supervisors. The Superintendent, Mr. John Scoon, has, as usual, done a vast amount of work during the year, and ungrudgingly 7 gives his services, wdiich the Managers duly appreciate. From the balance-sheet, embracing the period 13th February to 31st December, it will be seen that the receipts from all sources amount to £911 9s. 2d., and the expenditure £906 2s. 5d., leaving a balance to credit of £5 6s. 9d. with which to commence the coming year. The Managers heartily thank the public bodies who assisted financially in the upkeep of the classes, also the individual subscribers, without whose generous aid it would be impossible to carry on the work of the Association. Thomas Williamson, Chairman. Statement of Receipts and Expenditure for the Year ending Slst December, 1907, in respect of Associated Classes conducted by the Oamaru Technical Classes Association. Receipts. £ s. d. Expenditure. £ s. d. Balance at beginning of year .. .. 12 9 1 Salaries of instructors .. .. .. 414 3 6 Capitation on associated olasses .. .. 216 15 7 ; Offioe expenses (including salaries, stationCapitation on account of free places .. 68 14 3 cry, &c.) .. .. .. 40 0 0 Buildings .. .. .. .. 129 17 2 Advertising and printing .. .. .. 39 10 8 Rent .. .. .. .. .. 138 0 6 Lighting and heating .. .. .. 28 16 11 Furniture, fittings, and apparatus .. .. 227 19 3 Insurance and repairs .. .. .. 217 6 Material .. .. .. 48 11 3 Rent .. .. .. .. .. 101 11 6 Subsidies on voluntary contributions .. 55 9 6 Material for class use .. .. .. 10 6 3 Fees .. .. .. .. .. 128 0 6 ' Sundries .. .. .. .. 9 2 5 Voluntary contributions .. .. .. 60 5 0 Cartage .. .. .. .. .. 310 2 Sundry petty receipts and refunds .. .. 11 8 6 Refunds.. .. .. .. .. 2 2 5 Contracts (new buildings, additions, &o.) .. 129 17 2 Furniture, fittings, and apparatus .. .. 310 411 Balance at end of year .. .. .. 5 6 9 £1,097 10 2 £1,097 10 2 T. Williamson, Chairman i „ ~ A. McKinnon, Secretary fof Managers.

SOUTHLAND. Extract from the Report of the Education Board. Training of Teachers. —The annual grant made by the Department for the training of teachers in the subjects of manual and technical instruction has again been judiciously expended. Saturday classes in the subjects of elementary agriculture, elementary geology, elementary ph} 7 siology, and model, freehand, and brush drawing were organized at Invercargill and Gore, and were attended by a large proportion of the teachers whose location enabled them to visit these centres and return to their homes on the same day. Considerable interest was manifested in the subjects dealt with by the respective instructors, and there is warrant for believing that the results achieved will amply justify the expenditure incurred. Extract from the Report of the Inspectors of Schools. We fully recognise the great advantages teachers have derived from the establishment of Saturday classes in nature-study, botany, and geology. We must nevertheless point out that these classes, however beneficial and inspiring to teachers, are poor substitutes at best for practical systematic training at university classes. The attainments of the students attending them are so diverse that no course, unless on the most elementary lines, can be suitable to all; the period of attendance is too short for the attainment of satisfactory knowledge and skill in the subjects taught; and the large size of the classes precludes the possibility of sufficient practical individual work. Still, situated as we are at present, it would be folly not to avail ourselves of the confessedly limited advantages conferred by these classes. We can only wait patiently but hopefully for the time when an improved system of training of teachers will be introduced which will render them no longer necessar} 7 . And here it is fitting that we recognise the great benefit derived by the teachers of Southland from the course of lectures delivered during the winter months by Dr. Marshall, of Dunedin. The lectures, which dealt with the geology and physiography of Southland, were informative and stimulating; as a consequence, the interest in them was lively and sustained. The results of Dr. Marshall's visit are already manifesting themselves in the work of not a few of our schools. During the year considerable progress has been made in that branch of school activity known as manual work. Most teachers now recognise that manual work is not so much an additional subject as one by which other subjects are illustrated and exemplified. We, therefore, now rarely find it treated as completely isolated and detached; in most cases, its correlation with other subjects