E.—2.

[Appendix A.

Schools. —The number of schools in operation at the end of the year, including twenty-three aided schools, was 220. The following table shows the number of schools, the number of children on the rolls, the number in average attendance, and the percentage of attendance for each year since 1878 [printed in five-yearly periods only]:—

School Staffs. —The number of teachers at the end of 1914 was 528, including 136 pupil-teachers and probationers. Maintenance. —The total expenditure on salaries, including £1,370 2s. 7d. house allowances and £797 18s. 3d. for relieving teachers, was £90,832 19s., being an increase of £6,143 13s. 8d. as compared with the previous year. The salaries paid to teachers in secondary departments amounted to £3,146 12s. 4d., being an increase of £141 19s. 9d. The grants to School Committees for incidental and other expenses amounted to £7,035 7s. Id., exclusive of the special grant of £989 5s. towards the cost of small repairs. The Board cannot emphasize too strongly the fact that the amount provided by the Department for the incidental expenses of Committees is altogether inadequate. Training College. For the report of the Principal of the Christchurch Training College see Appendix D of E.-2. The inadequate and in many ways unsuitable accommodation afforded by the Normal School as a training college continues to hamper the efficiency of the work. In view of the large number of students who now annually pass through the Training College, to whom the education of our children is so soon to be intrusted, it is all-important that the facilities for their training should be of the best. The Board therefore trusts that the Minister may be able, during the current year, to authorize the erection of the new Training College, the need for which has of late years become so urgent. Attendance. —The attendance during the year 1914 showed a marked improvement on that for 1913, the percentage of attendance for the year being 89-43. During the year the names of 2,253 children were sent to the Truant Officer, in addition to 230 names taken by himself from the register. Ordinary notices were sent out in 2,100 cases, while 193 notices were of a final nature. Informations were laid in 108 cases, and seventy-three parents or guardians were fined. The fines amounted to £14 18s., exclusive of £14 costs. Scholarships. —A full list of the scholarships awarded on the examinations held towards the close of 1914 is given in Return No. 5. Of the candidates that entered for Junior Board and Junior National Scholarships, 125 boys and 103 girls sat for the examination. Of this number 110 succeeded in qualifying. There were fifty candidates for the Board's Senior Scholarships, twenty-eight boys and twenty-two girls, of whom forty-one qualified. There were ten candidates for the Board's Gammack Scholarships. Manual and Technical Instruction. [See E.--5, report on Manual and Technical Instruction]. Conveyance of Children and Board of Children. —The Board's expenditure on the conveyance of children, to school, and of the board of children living a long distance from the nearest public school, was £1,284 17s. 3d., of which, under its present practice, the Department will refund £1,193 3s. 3d. The number of children conveyed to school has risen from 273 to 371, while boarding-allowance has been paid for nineteen children in respect of the last quarter of 1914. In response to renewed representations made by the Board, the Minister has expressed his regret at being unable to authorize more than half the cost of the conveyance of children between the ages of five and seven years. The Board is still of opinion that the whole cost should be borne by the Department. School Districts- --No new school districts were established during 1914, but towards the close of the year steps were taken in this direction as regards the Beckenham, Breeze's Road, Glen Kowhai (Kaikoura), Hapuku, Horsley Downs, Mead, Ouruhia, and Soargill localities, which at the date of this report have been formed into school districts. Early in the year alterations were made in the boundaries of the following school districts: Bromley, Christchurch East, Linwood, Richmond, St. Albans, and Woolston. A strict adherence to the provisions of section 40 (2) of the Education Act, 1914, under which every school district shall be wholly within or wholly without an urban area, will necessitate alteration to most of the school districts adjoining the Christchurch urban area. In view, •however, of the manifest injustice that would be inflicted on many householders by the creation of such an artificial boundary, it is hoped the difficulty will be dealt with by an amendment of the Act.

XIV

Year. District Schools. i Mean Average for Year. Aided Total , Schools, j of Schools. QnRoll ! Average AttendEnd of Quarter, j anoo. _[ I I . i . Percentage. 1878 .. 1883 .. 1888 .. 1893 .. "1898 .. 1903 .. 1908 .. 1913 .. 1914 .. 106 139 155 175 186 183 195 195 197 4 110 13,781 9,641 4 143 17,475 12,844 1 156 20,301 15,920 4 179 21,279 17,543 16 202 20,836 17,580 22 205 19,569 16,227 14 209 19,942 17,536 Weekly Roll. 22 218 21,970 19,176 23 220 22,639 20,245 9,641 12,844 15,920 17,543 17,580 16,227 17,536 69-96 73-50 78-41 82-44 84-37 82-92 8F94 19,176 20,245 87-28 89-43