E.—l

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houses, &c, 12 per cent. ; Government services, 2-5 per cent. ; shops, 4 per cent. ; engineering and similar trades, 2 per cent. ; other trades, 2 per cent. ; and professions such as architects, surveyors, &c, 3 per cent. Hostels for Pupils of Secondary Schools. (Table K6 in E.-6.) The policy of accommodating country pupils in hostels attached to the secondary schools is favoured by the Department, and, as far as possible, financial assistance is being given for the erection of hostels. Unfortunately, the enforced restriction of all building operations has led to the postponement of the erection of a few urgently needed hostels. The majority of schools now have hostels connected with them, the buildings as a rule being the property of the Boards, but in a few cases being rented. In nearly every instance the hostels are now controlled by the Board of Governors, and in many cases they are a source of revenue. There were 1,223 boys and 407 girls of the secondary departments and 264 lower department pupils accommodated in school hostels in 1921. Of the boys, 370 were at Christ's College, Christchurch, and the Wanganui Collegiate School, hi addition to these numbers, 98 pupils were boarding at establishments approved by the Principals, and 562 were boarding privately. For these last-named, and also for the large number of children prevented from attending school owing to the boarding difficulty, or forced to make long railway journeys daily, additional accommodation where, there is dependable supervision and desirable environment is still needed. Free Secondary Education. (Table K4 in E.-fi.) Free secondary education is provided on an extensive scale, junior and senior free places being tenable at secondary schools, district high schools, technical high schools, and other technical schools. Generally speaking, junior free places are tenable for two years, with a possible extension in certain cases to three years. In the case of their being held at district high schools they are tenable to the age of seventeen. The means of qualification are — (I.) For entrance to secondary schools and district high schools — (a) Special examinations for Junior National Scholarships, (5) the certificate of proficiency. (2.) For entrance to technical high schools the means of qualification named in (1), or the certificate of competency in S6, with a special endorsement of merit in handwork or in elementary science, which for the purposes of technical schools is deemed to be equivalent to a certificate of proficiency. (3.) For entrance to technical classes other than technical high schools the means of qualification named in (I) or (2), or, under special conditions applicable to industrial courses only, a recommendation by the Inspector of Schools if a pupil is over fourteen years. Senior free places are tenable at secondary schools, district high schools, and technical high schools up to the age of nineteen, and at technical classes other than technical high schools for three or in some cases four years. The means of qualification for senior free places are the Intermediate or other equivalent examinations, or the recommendation of the Principal or Director of the school or classes attended based on the school records and examination results, or the recommendation of an Inspector of Secondary Schools, or, in the case of district high schools, of the senior Inspector of the district, or in part on such a recommendation and in part on the results of a special examination. Recommendation is the qualification now frequently offered, the number receiving senior free places in this manner in 1921 being 2,170, representing nearly three-fifths of the total number of senior free places gained. As a result of the free-place system 13,821 children were receiving free secondary education in 1921 —8,540 in secondary schools, 2,029 in district high schools, 3,140