TARANAKI EDUCATION DIBTRICT.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LV, Issue 13946, 29 April 1909, Page 3

TARANAKI EDUCATION DIBTRICT.

ANNUAL REPORT.

The chairman of the Taranaki Education Board (Mr. Jas. Wade) has prepared the following report, which will be submitted to the Minister for Education: — "At the beginning of the year the Board was comprised of the following members : — Mr. James Wade (chairman), Messrs. G. A. Adlam, Henry Faull, W. L. Kennedy, J. D. Morison, Arthur Morton, William Monkhouse, Harold Trimble, and Gustave Tisch. In the terms of the Education Act, 1908. the following members retired, and offered themselves for re-election at the election held on the fourth Monday in July, and were re-elected unopposed: —North Ward. Henry Faull; East Ward, W. Rogers; West Ward, James Wade. "At the meeting held on August 2u, Mr. James Wade was re-elected chairman ; Messrs. Adlam, Morison, and Trimble, members of the Teachers' Re- I lection Committee; Messrs. Kennedy, j Morton, and Tisch, members of the Finance Committee; Messrs. Faull and ; Marison, members of the Reserves Committee ; Messrs. Tisch and Wade, meTnbers of the. Technical Committee. The chairman to be ex-officio member of each committee.- . • "The Board held 24. meetings, the Finance Committee 12, and the Teachers' Selection Committee 6. The Reserves Committee visited a number or the school sites, and furnished reports for most meetings. "New schools have been opened at Mnsker's, Piko, Okan, and York, and the Pohokura School was re-opened. At the end of the year there were 88 schools open, including 6 half-time schools, and the number of teachers omploved was 152, who were graded as follows : —Sole teachers, 42 female and 14 male; head teachers, 6 female and 23 male; assistants, 39 female and 8 male; pupil teachers, 16 female and i *'At the annual pupil teachers' examination 8 pnpil teachers entered for the first examination ; 6 passed and I failed. ... , , „ "Of the senior candidates for the Board's scholarships 20 qualified, and tho junior 28. Senior scholarships were awarded to four candidate* from the New Plymouth High (School, and two from the Stratford District High School; and junior scholarships to— Frankley 1, Waitara 1, Toko 1, Ornate 1, and Opunake 1. , "Tho two National Scholarships allotted for the district were won by Alice Cocker, from West End, and Philip 11. Goss, from Douglas. 'There have been 20 appointments made during the year, besides those of a temporary nature, and appointments of pupil teachers. Eight teachers from other districts received appointments; nine teachers in the service of the Board received promotion. "New schools have been erected at Okau, Purangi, and Pukeho, and the Omata, Rahotu; and Stantoy and Lib* coin have been enlarged. The old, residences at Tariki and Tikorangi have been replaced by new ones, the Hilteborongh residence has been enlarged, and new residences erected at Makareceipts of the Board from all sources amounted to £31,855 M Id, while the expenditure was as follows i : -Administration, £4344 14s Gd; teachers' salaries and allowances, £18, /94 12s Id; secondary education, t,WbJ w, manual and technical. £159< 17s 6<l; buildings, £42a5 2s 2d, leaving a balance of £1684 14s 2d. - , ». ! "In the majority of our schools physical exercises are taken daily, with a | more extended period for instruction-, once a week. In the larger schools cadet corps have been established, and these are formed into two battalions. No. 1 comprising the schools in the northern part of the district, and ISo. 2 those in the southern. "It is very gratifying to be able to state that, so far as this district is concerned, the maintenance grant has proved ample to meet all requirements as in the opinion of the Board, the Auditor-General will approve "Teachers' Residences and Rent Allowances.—l must again state that this Board considers these regu ations very unsatisfactory. It certainly does not seem fair or reasonable that a teacher should he deprived of rent allowance because there happens to be a mere hovel or even a whare provided in the past, while a teacher in charge of perhaps a same grade school, hut in a more favoured locality, eniovs a comfortable residence, or in lieu thereoi full rent allowance. "Elementary handwork was taken at 40 schools, and sewing under the manual regulations at 7. In addition to the above, manual work, as defined by Clauses 22-27 of the Regulations ot Manual and Technical Instruction, was recognised in 84 cases, the subjects embracing woodwork, cookery, botany, dairying, advanced needlework, elementary agriculture, swimming and life-saving, physical measurements, chemistry, and elementary physiology. Considerable progress has been made in technical education, especially agnctllI '""Owing to the lack of sufficient ac- ! enmmodation and a strong room in which the records could safely be kept, the Board considered the time bnd come when new offices were absolutely necessary. Substantial offices with every convenience have therefore been erected on the Board's own property at St. Michael's Square.''