E.—l

27

land have sixty or seventy children under their care, so that in this respect there is yet room for considerable further improvement in the direction of the realization of proper standard conditions such as educationists regard generally as essential. Under the London County Council, where 590 schools have an average attendance of 511,962, with a mean of nearly nine hundred children in each, it is noted that the average number of pupils is 37. The position of New Zealand in comparison with that of some other countries in respect of the average number of pupils per teacher is shown by the following figures : — Average Number of Children per Teacher. London (County Council schools) ... . . ... ... ... 37 England (Board of Education schools) ... ... ... ... 32 Scotland ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 36 Ireland ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 32 Ontario ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 28 United States ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24 New South Wales ... ... ... ... ... ... .. 28 Victoria ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 31 New Zealand ... ... ... ... ... ... .. 32 With regard to the sex of public-school teachers, the figures given below indicate an increase in the proportion of female teachers, largely the result no doubt of the enlistment of male teachers for active service. Up till December, 1916, 416 adult male teachers and 39 pupil-teachers had joined the Expeditionary Forces, and the vacancies in the teaching service caused by their absence have been filled largely by women teachers. Thus the number of adult women teachers has increased by 389 since the end of 1914, while the number of adult male teachers has decreased by 127. It is fortunate for the cause of education that the work of teaching can so largely be undertaken by women, and that so many of the women (as well as men), who had for one reason or another retired from the profession, have been found willing to come forward to meet the emergency. The figures below show the ratio of males to females, adult teachers and pupil-teachers being considered separately. For purposes of comparison the figures for the two previous years are also given. In estimating the value of these figures it is to be noted that about half of the school population being under ten years of age and half of the remaining children being girls, women teachers are the most suitable for three-quarters of the children in the primary schools. 1914. 1915. 1916. M. F. M. F. M. F. Ratio of adult male to adult female teachers, schools with Ito 20 scholars 100 : 385* .100 : 323 100 : 386 Ratio of adult male to adult female teachers, schools with more than 20 scholars .. .-. .. .. 100 : 159f JOO 100:194 Ratio of adult male to adult female teachers, all schools .. .. 100:173 100:193 100:214 Ratio of male pupil-teachers to female pupil-teachers .. .. .. 100 : 338 100 : 344 100 : 379 Ratio of male to female teachers (including pupil-teachers), all schools .. 100 : 186 100 : 205 100 : 228 * Schools with 1 to 15 scholars; grade altered in 1915. t Schools with over 15 pupils. Under normal conditions a comparison in this respect with other countries would be interesting, but war conditions have so altered the relative figures elsewhere that the comparison for the present is omitted. Salaries of Public-school Primary Teachers. (See also E.-2, Table E4.) The total amount of all salaries and allowances at the rates payable on the 31st December, 1916, was £876,521, an increase of £31,724 over the amount