fi.-i

46

National Scholarships are now incorporated the Junior Queen's Scholarships, which were established by the Victoria College Act, 1897, to enable pupils of public schools in the Victoria College University District to attend a secondary school as a stepping-stone to a course at Victoria College. Eight Junior Queen's Scholarships, of a total annual value of £197, were held during 1910, and of these the Victoria College Council has granted an extension of two for the year 1911; after the end of the current year the Queen's Scholarships will cease to exist. The following summary to Table XLI shows the number and value of the Junior National Scholarships current in the Dominion in December, 1910: — Number of scholarships,— 80y5... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 75 Girls... 37 Total 112 Number receiving boarding-allowance (included in the above total) ... 49 Number receiving travelling-allowance (similarly included) .. ... 3 Number held at secondary schools ... ... ... ... ... 94 Number held at district high schools ... ... ... ... ... 18 Total annual rate of payment as in December, 1910 ... £2,649 (ii.) Education Board Scholarships. —The scholarship funds of the Boards are provided by grants which, although not statutory, are of old standing, and amount to Is. 6d. per head of the average attendance. The conditions of the scholarships are determined by regulations approved in the case of each Board by the Minister of Education. For the award of the Junior Scholarships all the Boards now use the Junior National Scholarship Examination, and for their Senior Scholarships nearly all use the Civil Service Junior Examination; but the awards themselves and the subsequent control of the holders are entirely in the hands of the Boards. The number and value of the Board scholarships in the various districts are shown in Table KL2 of E.-6, the totals of which are for the whole of New Zealand : Scholarships. At £40 per annum ... ... ... ... ... ... 100 At £35 per annum ... ... .. ... ... ... 9 At £30 per annum ... ... ... .. ... ... 41 Under £30 and not under £25 per annum ... ... ... 6 Under £25 and not under £20 per annum ... ... ... 16 Under £20 and not under £15 per annum ... ... ... 2 Under £15 and not under £10 per annum ... ... ... 192 Under £10 and not under £5 per annum ... ... ... 134 Under £5 per annum ... ... ... ... ... 63 Total... 563 Number of scholarships,— Boys ... ... ... ... ... ... 349 Girls * ... 214 Total ... ... ... ... ... 563 Total expenditure of Boards on scholarships— £ In 1909 8,694 In 1910 ... ... ... ... ... 9,232 As will lie seen from the above summary, the value of the scholarships varies considerably. In five out of the thirteen education districts scholarships of the value of £40 are offered for competition, while in another the highest scholarship offered is of the value of £15. Further, five Boards do not give scholarships of a lower value than £10 per annum, whereas others offer scholarships of a value of £2, and even £1 ss. per annum.