E.—2

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1. All Accounts excluding Buildings. Excluding the expenditure on buildings, the following summary shows the chief items of expenditure for the past five years : — 1911. 1912. 1913. 1914. 1915. £ £ £ £ £ Boards'administration .. .. 43,697 47,772 48,004 48,267 28,892 Incidental expenses of schools 42,831 44,723 46,412 46,678 51,628 Teachers'salaries* .. .. .. 608,958 643,921 668,094 716,749 818,263 Training of teachers .. .. .. 28,992 29,754 37,864 37,180 43,189 Scholarships and district high schools .. 32,620 33,361 33,072 34,436 34,962 Manual and technical instruction .. 65,195 77,131 82,030 89,350 95,697 * Excluding house allowance. The large reduction in the cost of the Boards' administration in 1915 is due to the transfer of Inspectors of Schools from the service of the Boards to that of the Department to which their salaries and expenses are now chargeable. The cost of the Boards' administration is provided by a capitation payment of ss. per annum for each child in average attendance at public schools within the district. The increase of over £100,000 in the expenditure on teachers' salaries is, as elsewhere indicated, for the most part due to the improved scale of payments introduced under the Education Act, 1914. The expenditure on incidental expenses of schools shows an increase of £4,950 over that for the year 1914. The Boards receive grants for this purpose on a new scale provided by the Act of 1914 and based on the number of schools and the attendance thereat in the district, the whole of the moneys granted being distributed according to the Boards' rules to the School Committees to meet the expenses of cleaning, warming, &c, in connection with the schools. The expenditure per head of average attendance has increased from ss. lid. in 1914 to 6s. 4d. in 1915. The following is a summary of the cash assets and liabilities of the Boards on all accounts, excluding buildings, for the year 1915 :— Administration, etc., Accounts, all Boards, 31st December, 1915. Liabilities. £ Assets. £ Overdrafts .. .. .. .. 5,816 Cash .. .. .. ~ 35,982 Other liabilities .. .. .. 16,755 Due from all sources .. .. 61,318 Balances 77,846 ' Deficits .. .. .. .. 3,117 £100,417 £100,417 With two exceptions, the administration, &c, accounts of every Education Board were in credit at the end of the year 1915. The total net credit balance of these accounts for the last four years is shown as follows : — Balances. Deficits. jj^ £ £ £ 1912 .. .. .. .. .. 49,869 2,432 47,437 1913 .. .. 55,657 305 55,352 1914 61,618 1,350 60,268 1915 .. .. .. .. .. 77,846 3,117 74,729 2. Buildings Account. The Buildings Account refers to moneys granted for two purposes, which by parliamentary appropriation and by the terms of the grants made by the Department are quite distinct, namely,— (a.) Moneys granted from the Consolidated Fund for the general maintenance and replacement of school buildings, furniture, fittings, &c, and additional sums paid for the rebuilding of schools destroyed by fire, and for the rent of temporary premises during such rebuilding ; (6.) Moneys granted from the Public Works Fund specially for the erection of new schools and the extension of existing schools rendered necessary by increased attendance, for the purchase of school-sites, and for building teachers' residences in certain cases where suitable houses cannot be rented. The moneys so granted in the year 1915 for the two purposes named are shown in Tables F7 and FB. The total amount expended by Education Boards during the year 1915 on maintenance of buildings, new buildings, sites, furniture, &c, was £183,534, as compared with £218,723 for the previous year. The building programmes of all of the Boards were considerably reduced owing to the circumstances of the war limiting the funds available for this purpose.