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an allowance of £20 per annum with free tuition, anel if "obliged to live away from home a lodging-allowance of £30 per annum. Eight bursaries were awarded in 1917, seven of which were held|at|the Central Development Farm, Weraroa, anel the remaining one at Lincoln Agricultural College, Canterbury. Twojbursars at Weraroa did not finish the year's work, and the bursar at Lincoln went on active service at the end of the year. The Education Department paid £128 6s. Bd. on account of bursars' fees in 1917. The available accommodation for bursars being limited, a selection has to be made each year from the number of candidates desiring bursaries. The Workers' Educational Association. In the distribution to University colleges of the moneys received by the University from the National Endowment Fund, £300 was allocated in each case for the establishment and maintenance of the Workers' Educational Association tutorial and University extension classes. Branches of this association have been established in a number of the larger towns, and tutorial classes in such subjects as economics, history, industrial law, English, electricity, debating, and chairmanship, conducted in some cases by University-college professors or lecturers, are in operation for the better education of working men and women. GENERAL. Annual Examinations. The annual examinations were conducted by the Education Department as usual for the various purposes of Junior and Senior National Scholarships, junior and senior free places in secondary schools, district high schools, and technical schools, and teachers' certificates. Also, by arrangement with the Public Service Commissioner, examinations were held for admission to and promotion in the Public Service. The examinations were helel from the 21st to the 30th November, 1917, and from the sth to the 19th January, 1918, at sixty-seven centres. The following table shows collectively, in comparison with the preceding year, the number who entered for the various examinations above enumerated, the number present, and the number of absentees : — HUB -17. 1917-18. Number who entered .. .. .. .. .. 11,858 9,908 Number who actually sat for examination .. .. 10,894 8,829 Number of absentees .. .. .. .. .. 964 1,079 Reference was made in a previous report to the duplication of examination by candidates for certificates of proficiency and for the special examination for junior free places. By abolishing the special examination the Department last year reduced the entries for the Junior National Scholarship examination to 3,122 (from 4,403 in 1916). Under special arrangement about 450 candidates for junior free places who would have been over fifteen years of age on the Ist December, 1917, and consequently could not gain free places under the regulations on a proficiency pass, were admitted and examined on the scholarship papers. They are included in the 3,122 above mentioned. Attention was also drawn last year to the large number of failures (2,815 out of the 4,403 examined in 1916) in the Junior National Scholarship and Junior Free Place Examinations. In spite of the cutting-out of the special junior free place examination in 1917, the number of failures—l,9l6 —was much too high, although the reduction in the percentage from 64 to 57 indicates that the free-place candidates were responsible for a higher proportion of the failures than were the scholarship candidates. In connection with the Junior National Scholarship Examination of November, 1918, the Department has endeavoured to prevent as far as possible the presentation of unprepared candidates, and the consequent heavy burden of work to the examiners and unnecessary expense to the country. Head teachers are being permitted to present, in general, not more than 10 per cent, of their Sixth Standard pupils for the. examination, and secondary-school Principals are to take similar steps