39

E.—s

Statement nf Receipts and Expenditure for the Year ending 'Mat December. 1908, in respect of Special Classes conducted at Inglewood, Receipts. C s. d. Expenditure. £ s. d. Capitation on special classes .. .. 28 210 Balance at beginning of year .. .. 0 210 Fees .. .. ~ 19 17 0 Salaries of instructors .. .. .. 26 0 6 Refund, potty cash .. .. .. 017 7 Office expenses (including salaries, stationery, &o.) .. .. .. .. 417 6 Lighting and heating .. .. .. 110 0 Caretaker .. .. .. .. 1 12 0 Refund of deposit fees .. .. .. 1 19 0 Furniture, fittings, and apparatus .. .. 0 18 0 Balance at end of year .. .. 11 18 1 £48 17 11 £48 17 11 R. G. Whetter, for Secretary. WANGANUI. Extract from the Report' ok the Education Board. Manual and Technical Instruction. The nature and extent of the work carried on in this department may In- gathered from the various reports herewith pre i-iited. The number of technical buildings in the district is seven, and another (at llawera) is in the course of erection. The buildings at Patea and Eltham were opened by the lion, the Premier on the 26th and 26th May respectively, and the Peilding building by the Hon. the Minister of Education on the llth .March. Classes were held in twenty-one centres, and 2,857 pupils were in attendance. The day classes in engineering at the .nui Technical School were entirely successful under the direction of Mr. Steele, B.Sc, who has returned to his old College as Senior Demonstrator. Mr. E. Crow (Mechanical and Civil Engineer, Junior Member, A.S.C.E., A.1.M.E., Honours in Mechanical Engineering, City and Guilds of London Institute) has been appointed to lill the vacancy caused by Mr. Steele's resignation, and another success ful year's work may be looked for. It is proposed to start day classes in art under the direction of Mr. Seaward, and there can be no doubt that there is room for such classes. The summaries furnished by the Superintendent in his report show that a reasonable amount of success has been attained at tin- different schools and centres. It may indeed be said with reference to the Wanganui School that the success is unparalleled in a town of similar population in the Dominion. No one who visited the very fine exhibition of work held at the end of the year could hesitate to say so. It appears from the Superintendent's report that an effort is being made to weld into a compact system the practical as well as the theoretical instruction given at the primary schools with that given at the technical schools, so that all may effectively converge on the actual employment of the pupil. If the schools fail in this they will fail in everything : but in view of the actual results the Hoard does not contemplate failure. True, the students do not rush t he schools, but that of itself need not be disconcerting : the best things have not always the most votaries. Nevertheless' the Hoard cannot be satisfied till a larger number of those who ought to come do come, and it is not afraid to advocate a reasonable amount of compulsion, in which it is supported by the great majority of the Boards of the Dominion. Surely a State that does so much for its subjects may reasonably require that its subjects may make an effort to do their best for the State. Training <>j Teachers. Saturday classes for the training of teachers were held continuously through the year at l'almerston North, woodwork, cookery, handwork, and drawing; at Feilding, chemistry, cookery, and drawing; at Wanganui. handwork, cookery, biology, nature study, and drawing.. A remarkable feature in this connection was the general disinclination on the part of teachers to take up the study of science. Mr. Grant had a good class iii biology, and Mr. Browne a good class in nature-study at Wanganui, but at the other centres little or no interest was manifested in scientific subjects. It is proposed during the present year to establish training classes at Taihape for the benefit of those teachers who have hitherto found it impossible to attend such classes. At the Wanganui Technical School, in the month of September, a series of art lessons was given to a number of teachers who gave up their autumn holiday for the purpose, by Mr. Seaward, A.R.C A. Ac-cording to the Inspectors who attended the lessons, Mr. Seawards revelations of the possibilities of the brush in the primary school elicited interest and enthusiasm. Agriculture and Dairywork. The Hoard recognises the value of the work done by Mr. Grant and Mr. Browne in these departments of instruction, and also the excellent work done by many of the head teachers of the schools. Nothing could be better, for example, than the gardens at Kuahine, Cheltenham. Halcombe. and Taonui Schools, which, in open competition under the auspices of the Feilding Agricultural and Pastoral Society, were awarded by the examiner. F. Y. 179, 158, 149, and Uil marks respectively, out of a possible 2<M) Extract from the Hf.port of the Superintendent ok Tf.chnical Instruction-. 1 have the honour to submit herewith the reports of the instructors and Supervisors of the technical department. Classes for instruction in elementary handwork were held in connection with 160 schools, while instruction in cookery, dressmaking, woodwork, physical measurements, elementary physics, chemistry, agriculture, dairy-work, physiology, and first aid. and swimming and life-saving was given in connection with niin-1 v six schools.