E.—l

60

is not due to larger salaries for teachers. To what, then, is it due ? The cause is clearly explained in the following extract from the Report of the Commissioner of Education at Washington : " The total expenditure per pupil for common school purposes in 1900 was 20 dollars 21 cents. In 1909 it had increased to 31 dollars 65 cents, or at the rate of 56 per cent. This increased cost per pupil has resulted largely from the relatively larger expenditures made for buildings, sites, furniture, libraries, and general school equipment. There has been a steady falling-off in the percentage of the common-school income devoted to salaries for the teachers. In 1900, 64 per cent, of the total expenditure was devoted to salaries ; in 1909 this had decreased to 59-2 per cent., and it declined steadily through the intervening years. While it is to be hoped that in the next decade this upward trend in better equipment will be continued, good buildings and good equipment generally cannot t;i ke tin' place of better teachers." In New Zealand, 70 per cent, of the total expenditure is spent on teachers' salaries. From the above, two deductions may he drawn : (1) Thai in the. opinion of the Department of Education for the United States the quality of the teaching staff suffers proportionately to the decrease in the salaries paid ; (2) that the amount spent in this Dominion in buildings and equipment is undoubtedly reasonable, and very much less in proportion than the United States, although New Zealand, being a comparatively new country, should be prepared to expend a proportionately larger amount in buildings than a country which has been settled for several centuries. Nor do the above remarks apply only to the United Irish School Weekly, in its number of the 18th May, 1912, criticizes the education system of Ontario, as outlined in the Minister's report, in the following terms : " The average cost per year per pupil in average attendance in Ontario is 33-44 dollars, or about £6 12s. This is a highly creditable item of expenditure ; the only other remark we might make in reference to it is that we wonder a larger proportion of it is not expended on teachers' salaries " ; and in another place, " The average salary for men teachers is £142, and the corresponding figure for women about £96. This scale of remuneration is certainly not extravagant, and it would be vastly in the interests of the people of this great province if they would double the salaries. It is no wonder the best of the teachers leave the profession, and that the average period of service of the 9,369 teachers does not exceed eight years. The Canadians spend huge sums in building and equipping their schools, but they seem to forget that the most important educational equipment is the teacher, and, as such, the teacher must be paid." Table N4 shows the progress made in education since 1898. It will be noticed that the proportion of those receiving instruction beyond the primary stage has vastly increased.

Table N4.—Progress in Education: A Comparison of the Number of Pupils under Instruction in the Several Branches of Education in the Years 1898, 1903, 1908, 1911, and 1912 respectively.

Actual Numbers. Number per 10,000 of Populati ion. 1898. 1903. 1908. "1911. 1912. - 1898. 1903. 1908. 1911. 1912. Population .. .. ..783,317 875,648 1 .. 783,317 875,648 1,008,373 1,058,312 1,008,373 1 1,058,312 1,102,471 I. Primary (including public and 136,652 136,546 Native schools, all receiving free tuition) 1 II, Secondary (including secondary 3,046 5,818 , sohools, secondary departments of district high schools, technical day schools, and Maori secondary schools) ] ; — III. Continuation and technical (ex- ' 1,750* 6,533* eluding school classes) IV. University, higher technical, and 708 1,194 training colleges 148,180 7,742 13,051* 1,711 7,742 I 161,921 8,953 13,713 1,954 8,953 167,180 1,744 1,551 9,481 39 66 1,467 1,528 77 84 1,519 si; 13,051*' 13,527 22 I — 129 ! 129 13,713 75 123 708 1,194 1,711 ! 1,954 2,281 I 9 14 17 18 ■21 (Private schools not included above, 14,857 15,609 principally primary) 18,367 18,367 19,985 19,985 20,527 190 177 182 189 187 Total under instruction .. 157,013,165,700 189,051 206,626 1,883 1,872 ; 1,948 1,936 189,051 206,526 212,996 2,004 V. Total under instruction higher 5,504 , 13,545 than primary (II, III, and IV above) Number of latter (V) receiving free l,178t 4,260t tuition * Estimated. 22,504 7,959 22,504 7,959 | i .' . 24,620 . 24,620 10,540 Apiiioxiuia 20,289 11,880 j 70 15 19 155 223 79 232 99 230 | 10,540 i 103 id. t A iroximati