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The Education Department lias made a grant of £3,450 for the erection of a manual and technical school at Hamilton, and it is expected that the building will be ready for occupation early in J 919. The Department has also made a grant to cover cost of building and equipping an engineering-room at Whangarei. Dressmaking classes were held at the various technical schools and also at the following places : Puriri, Turua, Paeroa, Te Awamutu, Hiintly, Ngaruawahia, and Morrinsville. The following are some extracts from the reports of local superintendents of technical and continuation classes in the district : — Devonport. —The work, as far as it was possible to arrange it, was graded to suit the capacity of the students, many of whom had not passed the certificate of proficiency examination, and some had only reached the Fourth Standard in the primary schools. Students were also placed in classes from which they would receive most benefit in their occupations. Hamilton.. —l3o students attended the classes during 1918. The class enrolments were: Kuglish and arithmetic, 65; shorthand and typewriting, 37; book-keeping, 39; trade and engineering drawing, 50; woodwork, 27; engineering, 32; dressmaking, 24. The fact that the classes had still to be conducted in scattered buildings in various parts of Hamilton was an effectual bar to any new development, and 1. think the teaching staff deserve our thanks for much persistent effort and work under very exacting conditions. The usual end-of-session examinations were abandoned on aocount of the epidemic, but I am satisfied that, on I he whole, the instructors did good and efficient work considering the difficulties they had to face. Dargaville. —A feature in this year has been the number of boys and girls who have taken (he whole course. This brings me to the question as to whether boys and girls up to seventeen years of age should be encouraged to be out at night until 9 o'clock for two, three, or even four nights in Ihe week. In some cases parents make a practice of calling for their children. Others keep them away if they have no one to escort them. The time seems ripe for a move in the direction of compulsory daylight classes, which would, I think, be well supported by both parents and employers. In a district such as this ir might be more expensive in the matter of staffing, but the advantages more than outweigh the cosi. Te Aroha. —The year has been a fairly prosperous and advantageous one to the students who attended. The attendance at the various classes was fair, but the number of students was not large, excepting perhaps in the English and arithmetic class. Whangarei. —The actual roll number of evening-class students was 115. Personally, one could not wish for better conduct and results. The other instructors endorse these remarks. It is hoped that the erection of the engineering-shop will be proceeded with as early as possible. The class has done some very good work in machine drawing, and there is a keen desire on the part of the students to proceed with instruction in workshop practice. Waihi. —The work done by the various classes has been, on the whole, of a very satisfactory character, and had it not been for the influenza epidemic interfering with the holding of the annual examinations 1 believe that the examination results would have been very creditable to the school. Owing to the steady decrease in the outjaut from the various mines the population of Waihi has greatly declined during the year, and this, of course, has manifested itself by a gradual decrease in the number of students attending the various classes. However, with the return of normal conditions the attendance should next year show an upward tendency. I am pleased to be able to state that the plan adopted in the middle of the year of withdrawing backward and indifferent pupils from the woodwork and trade drawing classes, and giving them instruction in English and arithmetic, has had very satisfactory results. The woodwork and trade drawing instructor has been enabled to attain a higher standard of work, and this has created a keener interest on the part of the pupils. Furthermore, the new arrangement resulted in a greater gain to the backward pupils who were transferred to the junior English and arithmetic classes. Most of these boys stand in great need of instruction in these two subjects, owing to the low educational standard which they attained before leaving the primary schools. Tho extra hour devoted weekly to shorthand and typewriting resulted in a most gratifying improvement in the work of these classes. The instructor in book-keeping has attained his customary high standard of classwork, and this with students showing a great diversity of attainments in this subject. J. P. Kalaugher, Supervisor. TARANAKI DISTRICT. Extract from the Report of the Director of the New Plymouth Technical School. During the year classes were held at New Plymouth (361 students), Stratford (138 students), llawera (296 students), and Eltham (56 students). New Plymouth Technical School. —Full daytime courses of work were carried out in the various subjects. Tlie egineering class suffered somewhat through the absence on active service and in camp of the instructors, Messrs. Kirkpatrick and Skelton. The numbers, however, kept up wonderfully well, and we were successful in maintaining the standard of efficiency in the workshop at least. The boys finished wiring the building for lighting, and were complimented on their work by the borough expert appointed to inspect it. Some very fine motor-car repairing was also carried out. During the year the work was inspected by an officer from the Marine Department, and on his recommendation the Department allowed three years' attendance at 1 day classes to count as two years of apprenticeship. This concession is very much appreciated by the students, who are not forced to become apprentices at so early an age as formerly.