E.—s

52

desirable to admit to our technical high schools those whose educational attainments are too low, but it was proved prior to the passing of the Act that boys and girls who had received instruction in Standard VI subjects could be admitted as students with advantage to them and without lowering appreciably the standard of work in the classes. Owing to the increased attendance the teaching staff was strengthened during the year by the appointment of instructors in science and mathematics, agriculture and agricultural science. The agricultural class, which had a roll number of fourteen, gives promise of steady development. No notable change was made during the year in the working of the four courses, as they are now generally developed and have several special instructors for the more technical subjects in each course. A further development, of the domestic-science course by the addition of instruction in practical housewifery is still necessary, but this must be postponed until more class-rooms are available. Examinations for Pitman's certificates were held, and eighteen elementary, four theory, and six speed certificates were awarded to our students. Thirty-five holders of junior free places qualified for senior free places in the College examinations. Two students passed the Public Service Entrance Examination, one of them securing second-highest marks in bookkeeping. This is particularly creditable, since no special preparation was made for the examination, which was taken incidentally at the end of a two-years course. One of our students and a former student now in attendance at the evening classes secured passes in the examination for shorthand-typists held in May. In the whole Dominion only thirteen candidates were successful in passing the full examination. With the exception of the erection of a fire-escape and the completion of other improvements calculated to make the buildings more fireproof, no building operations were carried on during the year. Indeed, the erection of more buildings on the site is now out of the question, and in view of the pressure already felt in the matter of accommodation for class-work it, is hoped that the work of some of the classes may be carried on in other buildings in "the near future. The transfer of the Boys' High School site and buildings to the Technical College has been under consideration for the past eighteen months, and the most satisfactory terms on which it can be arranged have been agreed upon by the two Boards and the Education Board. The High School site is an excellent one for our purpose, and the buildings would provide sufficient additional accommodation for some years to come. Two interesting developments in the school life have been the establishment of a School Council and the publication of a School Review. The Council is composed of representatives chosen by each form, and it is largely responsible for the control of the students outside the classroom and the organization of games and social activities. Such an arrangement is still somewhat in the experimental stage, but indications of its success are already to be seen. The system of controlling students travelling in the train by prefects chosen by themselves has worked most satisfactorily, and, although nearly a hundred girls and boys have gone to and fro daily by train for four years, no accident has yet been recorded. This fact in itself promises well for the recent extension id' the powers of self-government in the school. In common with other schools in the Dominion, this one has taken a share during the year in collecting money for the purpose of relief made necessary by the war. Early in the year a sum of £53 2s. 6d. was paid into the funds for British relief, and during the carnival held in Southland to raise money for wounded soldiers students were instrumental in collecting not less than £60. Of this, £19 was raised by a very successful continuous subscription scheme which was put into force during the carnival only. In addition to providing money by direct contributions, students brought in large donations of produce, sweets, flowers, and manufactured articles for sale at the stalls working in the interests of the carnival. The general interest shown in athletics during the year has been good, though students who have to return to their homes in the country at the conclusion of the classes each day have little time for playing games. A healthy rivalry among the different sections of the Cadet, corps has been productive of good results in maintaining its efficiency. Although the school is now completing Only the fourth session since its opening, two of our old students have left for the front and one has enlisted. The evening classes were attended by 239 paying students and 123 holders of free places, which represents an increase of fifteen over the total numbers enrolled in the previous year. It was anticipated that the roll numbers and the average attendances would be considerable affected by the war, and in the trade and art classes this was to some extent realized. Before the end of the year three-fourths of the students in the plumbing classes and a large proportion of the students in the carpentry classes had enlisted, so that very few men of military age remained mi the roll of any of the classes. On the other hand, it was found necessary to increase considerably the number of commercial and domestic-science classes, and there was a keen demand for instruction in wool-classing. Referring more particularly to the different courses of instruction, it was found that in the engineering course good enrolments were recorded for machine-drawing and workshops practice, but an advanced class for the study of steam and other heat engines was not well supported. The class for electrical wdring was rather smaller than in the previous year. Small classes were held for building-construction and carpentry and joinery, and the attendance at the classes in principles and practice of plumbing fell off considerably during the year, as mentioned above. The number of students attending the art classes for light and shade, model and antique drawing, drawing from life, and oil- and water-colour painting were somewhat below the average, though the standard id' work was high, but the wood-carving and photography classes had considerable roll numbers. The cookery class attracted about the ordinary number of students, whilst the dressmaking, needlework, and millinery classes had large roll numbers. These classes