E.—2.

[Appendix A.

fourteen were males and thirty-eight were females ; twenty-nine of them had passed the Matriculation Examination, twenty-two of them had passed the Public Service Entrance Examination or the Senior Free Place Examination, and one had passed the Proficiency Examination. The preponderance of qualified female candidates for admission to the teaching' profession, adverted to in the Board's reports for many years past, still continues. The Board records its gratification at the increased salaries which the Legislature has decided to allow for almost all grades of teachers' positions, and it is hoped that the emoluments now offered may be the means of attracting to the teaching profession an increasing number of young men of character and ability. Attendance of Pupils.- -The weekly roll number for each quarter showed an increase over that of the corresponding quarter for the previous two years. The weekly roll number for the last three years was (mean of four quarters) : 1912, 20,679 ; 1913, 20,957 ; 1914, 21,336. -The increase in the mean roll number for the whole district was 379, or 1-7 per cent. The average attendance was 19,776, which is 543 over that of the previous year, and 69 higher than has ever been attained previously in this district, the nearest to it being 19,607 in the year 1895. Tn the latter year there were some 2,500 more pupils enrolled than was the case last year, and the higher average reached in 1914 was the result of greater regularity of attendance. The percentage of attendance for last year (92-7) is easily the highest we have ever had in Otago. Ages of the pupils : The average ages of the pupils in the various classes were : Preparatory, 6 years 11 months ; Standard I, 8 years 11 months ; Standard 11, 10 years ; Standard 111, 11 years 1 month ; Standard IV, 12 years 2 months ; Standard V, 13 years 3 months ; Standard VI, 13 years 7 month. 1 ; Standard VII, 15 years 5 months. These figures show a slight decrease in the ages for all the classes except Standard V and Standard. VII, which show an increase of If months and 4f months respectively. Scholarships. —The five Junior National Scholarships provided under the Act were awarded to pupils of the Waitaki Bridge, Lawrence, Normal, and Green Island (two) schools. With the funds available the Board was able to award sixteen Junior and sixteen Senior Board Scholarships. Five of the Senior Scholarship winners had previously held Junior Scholarships, and one had held a Junior National Scholarship. The amount expended on scholarships for the year wa? —Board Scholarships (Junior and Senior), £1,370 Is. 3d.; Junior National Scholarships, £272 10s. : total, £1,642 lis. 3d. Of the ninety scholarships current at the end of the year, twelve were Junior National, forty were Junior Board, and thirty-eight were Senior Board. Thirty of them were held by girls and sixty by lads. The periodical reports on their conduct and progress received by the Board from the principals of the schools they attended were almost without exception of a very satisfactory nature. [Details of purely local interest have not been published.] Finance. —The. following statement shows the sums expended under the various headings during the past three years: — 1912. 1913. 1914. £ s. d. £ s. d. £ s. d. Teachers' salaries and lodging-allowances .. 81,484 2 1. 84,226 6 9 89,203 15 11 Payments to School Committees for incidental expenses .. .. .. .. 6,170 16 1 6,087 610 0,224 12 3 School buildings, purchase of sites, house allowances, manual and technical buildings, and apparatus .. .. .. .. 18,243 1 6 23,175 12 10 23,359 9 2 '*" The receipts for school buildings include grant for maintenance, £13,353 ; special grants for new buildings, £7,363 ; house allowances to teachers, £993 ss. 3d.; rents, £31 10s. ; local contributions, £714 3s. lOd. ; deposits on contracts, £500 Is. lOd. ; deposit forfeited, £15 ; special grants for technical school buildings and furniture, fittings, &c, for same, £1,659 15s. ; total, £24,629 1.55. lid. The main, items of expenditure on buildings were: General maintenance (repairs, alterations, and small additions) £1.0,872 9s. Bd. ; rebuilding, £1,030 10s. lOd. ; new buildings, £7,874 10s. Id. ; purchase of sites, £1,645 14s. Id.; house allowances, £97.3 ss. 3d.; manual and technical purposes, £315 13s. ; rents of buildings, &c., £17 15s. 3d. ; refund of contractors' deposits, £629 lis. Od. Drill and Physical Exercises. —These exercises have-been regularly practised during the year in all the schools under the control of the Board. The training of the Otago teachers in the new physical exercises prescribed for primary schools was arranged for December last, but the outbreak of the war necessitated its postponement. Manual and Technical Instruction. —[See E.-5, Report on Manual and Technical Instruction.] Truancy. —There were 690 notices served on parents and guardians for infringements of the Education Act (section 153); nine notices were served on parents whose children were not on the roll of any school; 283 cases of irregular attendance were investigated ; fifty-three penalty summonses wore issued under section 153 of the Education Act, and. convictions were obtained in every case. The total fines for the year amounted to £21 14-s. Bd. Of the fifteen large schools in Dunedin and suburbs, two attained an attendance of 97 per cent, for the year, five attained 96 per cent., four attained 95 per cent., and four attained 94 per cent. This is a very fine record. Training College. —The total number of students enrolled was I 17, thirty-three being males and eighty-four females. Of these, eighty-five were from Otago, twenty-three from Southland, seven from South. Canterbury, one from Hawke's Bay, one from Nelson. The allowances paid to them or on their behalf were : Bursaries, lodging-allowances, and travelling-expenses, £5,230 6s. 3d. ; college fees, £1,010 2s. : Total, £6,240 Bs. 3d., or £608 lis. less than in 1913. The report of the Principal of the College will be found in Appendix D of E.-2. Certificates. —Proficiency certificates were gained by 1,218 pupile (162 more than in the previous year) and competency certificates by 159 pupils (23 more than in the previous year).

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