E.—6

10

cient work cannot reasonably be looked for in a secondary school unless the staff is sufficient and well paid." It would appear from the fact that the expenditure on salaries in 1910 was almost £8,000 in excess of 1908, that the assistant teachers were now receiving much better treatment financially, but this is only partly true. The average salary of a male assistant has certainly risen in these two years from £224 to £232, but that of a female assistant has fallen from £147 to £145. The increased expenditure must largely be put down to the larger number of teachers necessary to cope with the steadily increasing number of pupils in attendance. The item of income " Sundries unclassified, £25,703," includes two loans amounting to £20,550. For the whole Dominion, if there are taken into account only the secondary schools that admit free pupils under the Act, we find from Table K5 the following position :• — 1909. 1910. Total number of pupils, excluding lower departments ... ... ... ... ' ... 4,421 4,638 Total net income from endowments (average of three years ending 31st December, 1910) ... £11,775 £9,561 Net income from endowments per head ... £2 - 66 £2 06 Approximate annual rate of capitation ... £10-40 £10-98 Total available net income per free pupil for salaries and management ... ... £13-06 £1304 Total expenditure on salaries of staff ... ... £45,081 £48,570 management ... ... £2,851 £3,275 „ staff salaries, and management ... ... ... ... ... £47,932 £51,845 Expenditure per head on staff salaries ... ... £10-60 £1082 „ on management... ... ... £064 £070 Total expenditure per head on stafi salaries, and management ■ ... ... ... ... £11-24 £11-52 The last figure given shows as nearly as may be the actual cost per annum for each pupil, exclusive of those in the lower departments. Further details of the income and expenditure of the secondary schools will be found in Tables K6 and K6a. Lower Departments. —The Education Act provides that pupils who have not obtained a certificate of competency in the subjects of Standard V or a higher standard of the public-school syllabus may be admitted to a lower department of a secondary school if they are taught in a separate building or class-room and if no part of the actual cost of their instruction is met out of the endowments of the secondary school. There were lower departments in thirteen secondary schools during 1910; the total number of pupils in those departments was 270 (178* boys, 92 girls); the total cost of their instruction was £2,024; the total amount of fees received on their account was £2,248. * Including Christ's College Grammar School, for which no return has hitherto been made.

General Remarks. (a.) Length of Time spent in Secondary Schools. School Age of Pupils in Attendance at Secondary Schools at the End of the Year.

11109—30 Schools.* 1910—31 Schools. School Age. I Boys. Girls. Total. Boys. Girls. Total. 'irst year iecond year ... 'hird year 'ourth (or a higher) year I 1,139 792 1,931 682 535 1,217 424 280 704 316 263 579 1,072 885 1,957 840 564 1,404 471 326 797 461 287 748 2,844 2,062 4,906 Total 2,561 1,870 4,431 • Exoli isive of Christ's College Grammar Schi ool.