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Office of the Department of Education, Sir,— Wellington, 21st October, 1921. I have the honour, in accordance with the provisions of the Education Act, 1914, to submit to Your Excellency the following report upon the progress and condition of public education in New Zealand during the year ending the 31st December, 1920. I have, &c, C. J. Parr. His Excellency the Governor-General of the Dominion of New Zealand.

REPORT.

CONTENTS. This report, with its appendix, gives the information which is of general public interest with regard to the administration of the Education Act, 1914, and its subsequent amendments, also the Education Reserves Act, 1908, as subsequently amended, the expenditure of public funds appropriated by Parliament for educational matters, and the principal statistics relating to matters which are more fully dealt with in separate papers, as follows : — S. —2. Primary Education ; with appendices, namely— Appendix A, Report of Chief Inspector of Primary Schools ; Appendix B, Reports of Education Boards ; Appendix C [not printed this year] ; Appendix I) [not printed this year] ; Appendix E, List of Public Schools, Teachers, and Salaries. E. —3. Education of Native Children. E.—4. State Care of Children, Special Schools, and Infant-life Protection. E. —5. Technical Education. E. —6. Secondary Education. E. —7. Higher Education. E.—B. Annual Examinations. E.—9. Teachers' Superannuation. E. -10. Subsidies to Public Libraries. In this report summaries are made of the more important tables appearing in the separate papers above mentioned. Where information in any section of the report has been prepared from tables appearing in the other reports above named, a reference will be found under the heading of the section to the tableconcerned and the report in which it is printed. INTRODUCTION. Reference to the Education Amendment Act of 1920, and to the various regulations and amendments to regulations made under the Education Act during the year 1920, affords some indication of the reforms and. improvements effected during that period in the education system of the Dominion. The following is a brief summary of the more important of such, to which fuller reference is made throughout this report in the sections dealing with the various branches that have been affected :— Provision for the extension of the compulsory school age from fourteen to fifteen years. This provision will come into force on a date not earlier than Ist January, 1922. Increased, salaries for primary- and Native-school teachers ; provision for payment of increments in accordance with the teachers' grading.