SCHOOL INSPECTORS’ CONFERENCE.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1510, 7 February 1901, Page 18

SCHOOL INSPECTORS’ CONFERENCE.

OPENING MEETING.

The conference of the State school inspectors of the colony convened at the instance of the Minister of Education, was opened on the 28th instant in the board-room at the Wellington Education Board’s building, under the presidency of Mr George Hogben, Inspector-Gene-ral. Nearly all the inspectors were present. Following is a list of the members of the conference : Auckland—D. Petrie, E. K. Mulgan, E. Ci Purdie, J. S. Goodwin, J. Grierson, R. Crowe. New Plymouth—W. E. Spencer. Wanganui—J. Smyth, J. Milne. Wellington—R. Lee, T. B. Fleming, F. H. Bakewell.

Hawke’s Bay.—H. Hill. Marlborough—J. Smith. Nelson—G. A. Harkness, W. Ladiey. Grey—W. L. F. Fetch. Hokitika —A. J. Morton. Christchurch—L. B. Wood, W. J. Anderson, T. Bitchie. Timaru —J. G. Gow, A. Bell. ’Otago—P. Goyen, W. S. Fitzgerald, c, B. D. Richardson, C. B. Bossence. Southland —J. Hendry, G. D. Braik. Education Department—J. H. Pcpe, H. B. Kirk, Isaacs, Browne. The Chairman', in opening the proceedings, said : Gentlemen, —It is with great; pleasure that I have, on behalf of the Minister of Education and of the Education Department, to thank you for your attendance here, and to welcoine you to this : conference. At the same time it is with feelings that we all understand at the present moment that I venture to suggest, on behalf cf the Minister, that it might he a fitting thing, possibly after settling one or two points of routine, that we should adjourn this present meeting. (Hear, hear). The occasion of the loss of our beloved Sovereign, her late Majesty Queen Victoria, is one that we can hardly do less than

mark by. an adjournment for at all events one meeting, as we are all acquainted with the fact that the era of elementary education —State elementary education —in Great Britain and Ireland, dates from, the accession of her late Majesty. We know that it was only five years be-

fore her accession that the first grants made on behalf of elementary edu- . cation in the United Kingdom, and that at the time of her accession there was no such thing as an Education Department there. , That department was not form ot3~ Crll- -fc-iT O -ycaro -&,£ tor hor ' a.c ci os sxo a .

We know also that the great movement of modern .education, with whichj are associated such names as Pestalozzi, Froebel and Herbart, had hardly taken root in England, if anywhere, before her accession. Her reign has seen such an alteration in the whole countenance of education in Great Britain and Europe that modem elementary education may "be said to date from the beginning of her reign. We know that it was in the first year of her accession that Froebel founded his first kindergarten. (Hear). Pestalozzi, who had been dead for ten years, was scarcely known. Dr Arnold was still doing his work at Rugby. It is not because of these things only that we should mark her death, but also because she herself was identified with all forms of progress, of which education is merely cue. In culture in its broader view she in her own circles set a high standard, and the Prince Consort and others of her family conformed to that high standard. In every way in her power, our beloved Queen encouraged everything that made for progress, whether in the realm of education or other-

wise, and because she stands to us as a

symbol of what is to us one of the most important parts cf the civilisation of our times we feel one additional reason more than grief for her loss as Queen and mother, why we should adjourn this afternoon. I shall postpone any. other remarks which I have to make until we meet for the more formal business of the conference. It was unanimously agreed to act upon the chairman's suggestion* The hours of meeting were fixed as from 9.30 a.m. to lp.m., and from 2.30 to 5.30 p.m. daily. It was decided that the proposer of a resolution; should.be allowed to speak iov. . fifteen, : minutes* and subsequent speakers for ten minutes. , After discussion, it was resolved, on a show of hands, by fifteen votes to fourteen, that the press should not be adjnitted to the conference. The precedent set at the conference of 1894 was thus followed. The resolutions come to by the conference will be communicated to the press each day. . Mr T. R. Fleming, one of the Wellington district inspectors, was appointed secretary to the conference, and Mr F. D. Thomson, of the Education Department, assistant secretary and shorthandwriter.

A number of committees were set up

to facilitate the work of the conference. A motion that the conference adjourn till next morning in deference to the mournful event cf the Queen’s death, was carried by the members silently standing. SPEECH BY INSPECTORGENERAL. The conference of State school inspectors resumed its sittings in the boardroom at the Education Board’s offices on the 29th.

The Inspector-General (Mr George

Hogben), who presided, delivered an address, in the course of which he said the circular which was sent to the inspectors by direction of the Minister of Education, inviting them to attend this conference, suggested certain matters for their consideration. There was, however, no wish on the part of the Minister to limit their proceedings to the consideration of the matters thus named, although the full discussion of them alone would take a far larger time than could probably he spared by any of the members of the conference. The Minister and the department would be glad to have the expression of their opinions, as those of a body of experts, on any matters that called for attention or reform in the educational affairs of the colony. One subject that had occupied the attention of educational authorities during the past year, namely, the question of a colonial scale of staff and salaries, the Minister had not suggested for their consideration, as it would form the subject of discussion at a special conference to be held at a later date. The subjects named in the circular involved principally questions that had arisen through correspondence with the various Boards, or with inspectors of schools, and otherwise in the ordinary course of administration. It might be as well that be should briefly refer to the chief topics that were to come before the conference for discussion. With reference to the syllabus, the present one seemed to call for amendment in regard to the amount of work required from children at various stages, to the arrangement of that work, to the method of treatment of the various subjects so far as it was indicated by the syllabus, and, most urgently of all, perhaps, in regards to the want of any substantial differentiation between what was required jin small schools and in large schools. Under the new regulations which came into force last year, no change was made in the requirements of the syllabus, except in respect of the permission given to substitute handwork for certain other subjects, and in respect of the transference of some of the subjects from, the pass group to th© class group. It was, however, generally understood at the con. ference held in July, 1899, that- time should be given to enable them to judge to some extent of the effect of the degree of freedom, granted by the new regulations. Many, perhaps most of the suggestions, related to amendments in detail. Without intending to imply that careful amendments in detail were unimportant, he might yet venture to point out that the most serious amendment was more radical, inasmuch as m smaller schools the number of compulsory subjects was such as to- affect prejudicially the quality of the instruction, and relief might be with advantage granted to both teachers and taught. Moreover, it was highly important that space should be found for manual instruction, or handwork, or harm and eye training (by whichever name they preferred to call it), throughout the'school course. If they began to consider the question practically, they saw at once that any attempt to re-model the syllabus, especially in the direction of differentiating between its requirements for small and large schools, must be influ. enced by the view which they took of the individual standard pass. Whatever value that might have in the eyes of the community, there would, to some extent. be an element of uncertainty about it if, in addition to the varying standards of interpretation in the different districts, there were added the fact that a child in a country school could pass a given standard with one or two subjects less than a child in a town school. Other reasons, of course, were urged' why the individual standard pass should l he abolished. He wished, however, to be impartial, and! hadi mentioned the question only to point out how it was connected with the amendment of the syllabus. The specimen schemes of instruction adapted to the requirements of the new code of 1900 issued by the Engglish Board! of Education contained the germ of an idea of differentiation between large and small schools that would apply with possibly greater force m New Zealand 1 than in England and Wales. He would not take up the time of the conference by discussing the various subjects in detail. He should like, however, to say that he had _ no sympathy whatever with any desire that anight exist to lessen the amount of reading required. If they had taught a child to read easily andi to like good books, to observe, to act in accordance with his own observation, to reason in accordance therewith, in other words, to use his hands and eyes intelligently, they had really given him the beginning of a good education. If they had not done that, a large part of the time at school had! been wasted, however hard the teachers might have worked at formal instruction. He should invite the conference, therefore, to consider how far it was desirablei to increase rather than diminish the amount of reading. That might partly be met by a suggestion made in another connection, namely, that the reading of historical and geographical readers should be substituted for a more formal treatment of history and geography. In thus treating geography they would have, of course, to guard against one danger, and to take care that the teaching of physical geography was more and more founded upon actual observation of nature. Arithmetic might be curtailed and modified without any great loss r,o the commonwealth. And when AngloSaxons so far woke up as to adopt a

decimal money system and a metric system of weights and measures, they would absolutely gain three or four hours a week in every school, and probably twice as much in every countinghouse. In this and in other subjects alternative programmes might be allowed. They w r ould probably all agree with him that it was desirable that pupil teachers’ regulations, so far as they led up to teachers’ certificates, should he as nearly as possible the same all over the colony. At present they differed somewhat widely. There would be very little difficulty in introducing a great degree of uniformity if there were no pupil teachers, say, in schools with less than seventy-five in average attendance; that was, if the first addition to the staff Avere an assistant and not a pupil teacher, as it was now in some districts. The question of scholarship regulations could hardly be considered apart from the whole question of the links between secondary and primary education. In any case, the differences in the scholarship regulations in the seA r eral districts did not seem to be based on differences in the children, or in the conditions of life, but upon circumstances that, for want of a better word, could only b 9 described as accidental. The question of teachers’ certificates brought up the questions of teachers’ examinations and of the marks awarded: for efficiency, but it also suggested! at once a far more important question, namely, that of the training of teachers, which Avas referred to in the last report of the Department. He Avould point out that secondary school teachers needed training as Avell as primary school teachers; that it ought to be their object to get for their teachers the best material available; that they ought not, therefore, to make such arrangements as tended to exclude those who had had a. secondary but should encourage as many as possible of their future teacher? to gat as thorough a secondary training ns possible. Each training college should have a model school in tAvo sections, or rather tAA’o model schools, in connection with it, say one AA-ith thirty to forty pupils, and one A\dth one to one hundred and fifty pupils. The students should not merely look on, but should practise continuously under close supervision in these model schools for part of each day. Practice in the manipulation of larger schools could be gained by more occasional practice in associated schools. The director of the training college should be lecturer also in psychology and in the history of education. both of which subjects should bo broadly but not exhaustively treated, with a vieAV to their influence in the making of intelligent and thoughtful teachers. The director also should have full control, by means of capable asfistants acting under his direction, of the model schools, and be in constant communication with the head teachers of associated schools. These remarks were intended merely as suggestions to arouse discussion. An obvious question arose at once, Would it be better that these main training ' collides or normal schools should be under the beards, or bo colonial in character ? The next subject on the list, higher instruction in primary schools and district high schools, dealt with a most important question, that of the co-ordination of primary and secondary education. The present system of scholarships only partly and in a rough and ready way.solved that question; in fact, it left it unsolved for a very large number of children -whom it would probably pay the State to educate more thoroughly than it educated them, at present. They had to consider the cases of boys or girls Avhose day school course should be extended, and could be extended, beyond the primary course. All other boys and girls should, he considered, be found in the continuation schools. Those beys or girls who ought to receive (were Avort-h, so to speak) a secondary education, might be found in a small primary school, where they Avere too few to term a class under a separate teacher. The cleverest of them might obtain scholarships, and, hoarding away from home, attend a high school in a larger town. Did they meet the needs of the others by giving them a little Latin, grammar and a nodding acquaintance with algebraical symbols? Should not a rational programme, Avith choice of suitable subjects, be drawn up for such cases? In a recent circular on district high schools, the Minister had already dealt with schools large enough to be able to have a separate secondary class under a separate teacher. He (Mr Hogben) would point oat in this connection that as there was no limit to the number of free places for Avhich the extra £4 per annum would he paid, there was no reason why all the district high school education should not be free, if it were expedient to make it so. The subjects named were not necessarily subjects that Avould be suggested by the department as suitable; as a working basis for the present year the subjects new actually being taught in district high schools had been named. How far was it expedient that district high schools should attempt to imitate fully-staffed high schools, and model their programmes on an implied but false assumption that the majority of their secondary pupils intended to proceed to the University? No doubt a very similar question might bel asked in regard to many of the high schools proper. In other words, what should the district high schools teach? The Minister was

inclined to favour the establishment, where/ suitable conditions existed, of district high schools rather than the establishment of high schools tco small to be stable either in staff or numbers. They had, lastly, the. case of those boys and girls Avho lived in large toAvns having fully-equipped high schools, whe, bad passed Standard V1.,-and were ready to continue their school course. Some of them might stay for one year, others for tAvo or three years. Assuming that it was desirable to provide a Standard VII. for the formetr, what was the best course - to pursue in regard to the latter? Provide a secondary education free for them in the primary school, and the high schools were crippled. An expensive overlapping Avas introduced, for the State had already endowed, these high schools to do the work. Yet they were faced by the question of the fees that had. to be paid at the high schools, except by a comparativeily small number of scholar-ship-holders. In short, were district high schools to be established in towns where •fully-equipped high schools existed? Or was secondary AA r ork to he done in Standard VII? Or were mere scholarships or free places to be made in high schools? What subjects should be taught in Standard VII ? These questions were among those which. called for consideration in this connection. The recently-gazetted regulations under the Manual and Technical Instruction Act would, he thought, clear up many of the questions that had been suggested from time to time in connection with hand Avork in schools and Avith continuation schools. Mr Hogben also stated that he had the authority of the Minister for saying that in all probability a new School Attendance Bill would be introduced during the next session of Parliament. The neAv regulations had already raised the standard of exemption to Standard V. It had been proposed to raise the age of exemption to fourteen. Other amendments in the present Act seemed desirable, if not absolutely necessary. It was resolved that the chairman’s address should be printed. The Minister of Education (Hon. W. C. Walker) visited the conference, and 1 gave a short address. He welcomed the inspectors to Wellington, and made a sympathetic reference to the late Rev W. J. Habhns, Avhose w-ork as InspectorGeneral he spoke of in appreciative terms. The discussion of the syllabus AA r as then entered upon. During the) discussion Messrs W. T. Grundy, T. H. Gill and C. Watson were present by invitation as representatives of the Ne!w Zealand Educational Institute. It was resolved by twenty-one votes to seven, “That, in the opinion of the members of this conference, it is desirable that the individual recorded pass in Standards 1., 11., 111., IV. and V. be abolished.” After divisions on each clause, it was resolved, “That the Minister be asked to curtail the syllabus of instruction so as to allow of sufficient time a week being devoted in all schools to the teaching of the fundamental subjects of the syllabus ; that the curtailment required might he sekmred —(a) ; By making the geography course shorter and more precise; (b) by making history a reading subject only, and no longer liable to special examination; and (c) by re-arrang-ing the course of instruction in arithmetic, omitting altogether the study of the metrio system of weights and measures, discount and prdsent worth, stocks and compound interest, and limiting the treatment of decimal fractions substantially to finite decimals.” It Avas unanimously resolved, “That the syllabus should be materially lightened in the case of schools in charge of a sole teacher.”

It was resolved, “That the number of class subjects may be reduced in country schools by allowing teachers to leave out, at the discretion of the inspector, one or more of the subjects in proportion to the size and circumstances of the school.” The following motion was carried on the voices;—‘“That the syllabus in composition be modified, and that from Standard 11. to Standard VI. a better graduated scheme of work bel adopted; that only so much grammar as is necessary to give a rational comprehension of the principles of composition he taught.” It was resolved, “That in the classes receiving .instruction in the subject, grammar be included with the subjects forming the basis of promotion.” A motion on the question of'grammar was undeb discussion at 5 p.m., when the conference adjourned till next morning. RECORD OF RESOLUTIONS. The School Inspectors’ Conference continued its sittings on the 30th in the lecture hall at the Wellington Education Board’s offices. It Avas resolved, “That the scheme of applied grammar include the following: —l. The structure of simple compound and easy complex sentences of not more than three members of plain build, treated by way of analysis and of synthesis. 2. The recognition of the parts of speech in such sentences, with a knowledge of their functions. 3. Exercises in the blending of sentences and. clauseis, and in the conversion of phrases, clauses and sentences into equivalent constructions. 4. Such inflections of words as are necessary for the purposes of composition. 5. Practice in correcting wrong sentence forms,, with, special reference at the buyer stages to common colloquial errors.”

m °tion by Mr Hill (Hawke’s Bay), 'That the syllabus of instruction be differentiated. for the colony/’ was lest. . rt was resolved, ‘'That the syllabus of instruction oo differentiated for large and small schools, and that the number of subjects be determined by the class u sc^c the class to be determined by the numerical strength of the staff.” It was resolved, ‘'That the second paragraph of Standard Regulation No. 2. the whole of Regulations 3, 4 and 7. and Regulation 6, from ‘and he/ second fine to ena.. lie cancelled. That the following be substituted : The classification of a school shall be made by the head teacher, who shall have full discretion to arrange his pupils in different classes for different subjects according to their ability and proficiency with respect to the several Subjects, and to group two or more classes for instruction in one subject. This discretion he must exercise to the satisfaction of the Inspector, who will regard as an element of weakness any undue complexity in the class! Fcation cf pupils. As a general rule, pupils should be classified according to their capacity and attainment in English and arithmetic respectively, classification in English being determined by proficiency in English, and classification in arithmetic by proficiency in arithmetic.” It was resolved,, “That the following he substituted for Standard Regulations 11 and 12 : 'The head teacher shall hoi 1 periodic examinations of his school. and shall enter in a book provided for the purpose the results gained by ea :h pupil in each subject. He shall aim preserve, for the information cf the Inspector, a copy of the questions and the written answers of the pupils. Before the Inspector’s annual visit for ex vmination, the head teacher shall prepare class lists, which shall contain the namss and ages of all the pupils on the school roll, with the number of half-days on which each pupil has attended the school S'nce the last annual examination by the Inspector, and the length of time" each pupil has been in the class in which lie is placed. The class in which a pupil is placed for English shall determine the list on which his name shall appear. In general, a pupil shall be expeebel to pass through one class in each subject in a year; and the head teacher shall, by underlining in red ink the figures opposite the name of any pupil, indicate the subjects in which such child has not passed a standard higher than that passed at the Inspector’s previous ex unination.”

The following resolutions were, also carried:—“That in Standard Regulation 14 the word ‘one’ be substitute! for ‘two/ in lines nine and ten.” “Thai geography be deleted from the pass subject for the certificate of proficiency ” “That when a child leaves one school for another the head teacher sha.il furnish him with a written statement showing <!) the class or classes in which he is placed for English and arithmetic ■ (2) the date cf the last Inspector’s examination ; and (3) the number of half-day attendances he lias made since that exgnrnation.” “That the certificates of proficiency awarded to pupils of Standard VI. shall show in what subjects the pupil passes Standard VI. anu in what subject or subjects he passes Standard V.” It was resolved, ‘‘That- paragraph 3, Standard Regulation 2, be amended by the addition of some such words as the following : “But to qualify for examination in any class the pupil must have been taught continuously in such class for the three months immediately preceding the examination, or, if he has attended the school for a less per’od, during the period since his admission/”

It was resolved, "That paragraph 3. Standard Regulation 4, be am-nded by providing that as a general rile in Standards 111., IV., and V., promotion shall not be granted in English unless the pupil satisfies the requirements of the standard in three at least of the four subjects included under that head, two of which shall be reading and composition; and that, also, as a general rule, in Standards I. to V., the classification for English and arithmetic shal’ not in the case of any pupil differ by more than one standard. w

A motion, ‘‘That paragraphs 2,3, 4, 5 and 6 of Standard Regular on It be omitted as useless,” was lost. Another motion, “That the qualifications for Standard VI. certificate, provided for in Regulation 15, be defined with greater precision for the teacher’s and the Inspector’s- guidance, } was also lost.

It was resolved, ‘That Standard Regulation 16 he amended by bringing the requirements of the Inspector’s annual return into closer,., relationship with the facts or opinions provided fir in ihe separate school reports.”

The conference of State school inspectors on the 31st resumed its sittings in the lecture hall of the Wellington Education Board’s offices, and passed the following resolutions :

That the Minister be asked to recast the scheme of instruction in geography, so as to make the observation and study of the geographical features of the school district an important part of the work of Standards 11. and 111., and so as to connect the study of the great physical features of the several continents and countries with their political geography. That the subjects of instruction in the schools be divided into two sections —compulsory and optional—and that the department determine the subjects

to be placed under each section, and prepare alternative schemes of instruction in optional subjects. That the Minister be asked to prescribe suitable and definite courses of study for the upper standard classes in the following subjects: (a) Elementary physiology and general science; (b) elementary physiology and domestic economy; (c) elementary agricultural science; and that the teaching of one or other of these courses be made compulsory in every school. Carried by 17 to 12.

That a systematic course in physiography be included in the school syllabus as one of the optional subjects. That teachers be no longer required to state the maximum half-day attendance during each quarter, as this information involves a. great deal of work, and appears to be of little or no use. That this conference recommends the establishment of a colonial system of military drill in schools, including the formation of companies and cadet corps dressed in simple uniform, and provided with light rifles. Arrangements should also be made for taking battalion drill.

Tliat the Minister of Education be respectfully requested to lay before the conference the proposed salary scheme ■of the Education Department. That in view of the fact that this conference has recommended the abolition of the individual pass below Standard VI., it be recommended also that the department make provision for the issuing of certificates of competency to candidates for positions in the public service.

That the syllabus of instruction for pupil teachers throughout the colony be so drawn up that the examination for the last year 'be the matriculation examination, or that for Class 13 • and that any pupil teacher who has passed! matriculation before entering - the service, or who passes it during his course, be not required to present himself for the pupil teachers’ examination (except in school method), if he first complete his D certificate, and • thereafter gives evidence that he is keeping terms at a University College, provided his residence allows of his attending one. That in each educational district there be facilities afforded for the training of pupil teachers in manual work, and in the principles of their profession; or, alternately, that provision be made by means of scholarships whereby pupil teachers on completing their practical course may be enabled to proceed to the nearest training college. That, in the opinion of this conference, any pupil teacher scheme should provide a substantial time weekly for private study during school hours; a time during which the pupil teacher would be entirely free from ordinary school duties.

That in the teachers’ E and D certificate examinations different papers be set in school management; the paper for E to have a direct bearing on practical class and school management, and the paper for D, while containing questions as for E, to deal generally with the theory of education, and to contain questions on tncse fundamental principles of psychology which have direct bearing on education. That the present form of classification of teachers be simplified. The first order of the day for this morning is a motion dealing with the formation of a Standard VII.

CONCLUDING SITTING.

The following resolutions were come to by the School Inspectors’ Conference at its sitting on the Ist: That the Minister be asked to establish a special"- examination and issue a special diploma or certificate to teachers who show a thorough theoretical and practical knowledge of each of the following subjects—Singing, drawing, physiology and general science, physiology and domestic economy, agricultural science, military drill and handwork. 1. That in section 3, line two, of the School Attendance Act, 1894, the word “ fourteen ” be substituted for “ thirteen.” 2. That in section 3, line six, the word “three” be substituted for “ two.” 3. That section 7 should be reconstructed so as to compel seven attendances out of nine, six out of eight, and five out of six where schools are open nine, eight and six times a week respectively. 4. That the words “ and in every case the onus shall be on the defendant of proving that he is not liable to a penalty under this Act” be added to section 8. 5. That in section 9, the words “ on behalf of any School Committee” be struck out. 6. That the following be substituted for section 6: “Any person convicted of an offence under this Act may be ordered to pay the costs of the proceedings.” That in the School Attendance Act, 1894, the term “ attendance ” he clearly defined as at least one hour and a half for preparatory pupils, and at least tivo hours for pupils in Standard I. and upwards. That this conference is of opinion that the success of any system of education depends as much on the personal influence of its teachers as on their scholastic qualifications; and that the cause of true education will be immensely benefited by a more careful selection of teachers capable of exercising such elevating influence over their pupils. That it is imperative on the inspector at his annual visit to devote the major portion of his time to an investigation of the character of the teaching, and of the degree to which the general

intelligence cf the pupils has been develooed.

That to secure continuity of progress and solidarity cf interest in matters educational, the inspectors meet in conference triexnially. That this conference take into consideration. the question of the uniform staffing of the schools cf the colony.

That this conference suggests the desirability of establishing a pension scheme for teachers and inspectors.

That in order to foster an acquaintance with the fauna and flora of New Zealand, diagrams be prepared for use in the public schools. That a relief map of New Zealand be constructed for the use cf schools, and maps to show the more important physical and geological features, the tourist resorts and the characteristic and natural products of each district. That it is desirable that there should be a uniform scale of staff for the colony. That the Minister of Education be requested to appropriate a sufficient sum outside the statutory capitation grant to enable Education Boards to make adequate provision for the inspection and examination cf schools.

That for the better protection of the interests of the country, the examination and inspection of private schools by public school inspectors is desirable, and that standard certificates be issued to those children who satisfy the requirements.

That this conference strongly affirms the desirability of maintaining training colleges at the feur principal centres, as indicated in the chairman’s opening address, and of affording special facilities to country teachers of attending training classes. That these training colleges be established in connection with the present University colleges; and that arrangements be made to allow all pupil teachers to attend these for a course of one or two yelars.

That, in connection with “hand-work,” such instruction in practical mechanical analysis and synthesis should be given in Standard VI. as would enable a class of children to take to pieces and reconstruct at least three machines—such as a lock, a clock and a working model of a steam engine. In the case of girls the sewing machine might, at the teacher’s discretion, be substituted for the steam engine. That in the opinion of this conference it is desirable that the inspectors cf schools be placed under the authority of tli? Central Department.

That a committee of five be appointkl to consider the question of Standard VTI. pupils, district high schools, secondary schools, and continuation schools, and to make recommendations for the consideration of the conference, such committee to consist of Drs Anderson, and Smyth and Messrs Goyen, Petrie and Isaac. [The committee subsequently presented its recommendations.] That this conference expresses its regret at the unfortunate circumstances necessitating the absence from this conference of Mr Ladley. of Nelson. That the Minister be asked to take steps to enable inspectors of schools to vote at the elections, cf members of Parliament on the same footing as commercial travellers.

That a course of study in continuation of that prescribed for Standard VI. be laid down for Standard VII., and that such other subjects as the circumstances of the district render desirable, and the inspector approves, be added thereto : and such course shall be at the option of the teacher in all schools with a staff of fewer than three teachers. That teachers should receive suitable remuneration for their work.

That in any district remote from centres where secondary schools exist, a district high school may he established, providing that it is likely that fifteen Standard VII. pupils will attend. That in the larger centres of population the Minister be asked to establish central schools that shall provide for pupils who have obtained the proficiency certificate, a general education, along with such technical instruction as may bo needful. That- in addition to the present concessions, the Education Department be asked to grant free school season tickets to all pupils over fifteen years of age, who are attending any schools under an Education Board, and are doing work higher than Standard. VI., or who, holding Education Board scholarships, are attending a secondary school.

Votes of thanks were accorded to the Inspector-General of Schools for presiding at the meetings of the conference, to the Minister of Education for convening the conference, to the Wellington Education Board for granting the use of its building, and to the secretaries.