BOARD OF EDUCATION.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 645, 17 June 1870, Page 2

BOARD OF EDUCATION.

The following is the annual report of the Board of Education for the year ending March 31. It is published as a supplementary Gazette, and although it is dated May 2, we did not receire a copy till yesterday. The report is addressed to his Honor the Superintendent, and is signed by the Chairman of the Board, Mr H. J. Tancred : — The Board of Education has the honour to present its annual report for the year 1869-70, according to the terms of " The Education Ordinance, 1864." The total number of schools receiving aid from the Board, including two superior schools, is 59. The Geraldine Special Graat School, included in last year's report, has ceased to obtain a grant from the Board. The school was carried on in a building unsuited for teaching purposes, and the amount and quality of the education given being considered inadequate to the want} of the dis-

trict, the Board has suggested to the residents that the permanent establishment of a Government district school in the locality is desirable. The High School, Lyttelton, is no longer in receipt of aid aB a superior school, no funds having been voted by. the Provincial Council for that purpose during its session in October and November, 1869. The superior schools had, previous to that date, been examined by examiners appointed by the Board, in accordance with a resolution passed by the Council. The new schools that have been brought into operation in regularly constituted educational districts, are those of Hororata and north Kowai. School buildings are in the course of erection in the Halkett district, and steps have been taken with the Tiew of starting Government schools in the Milford, Pleasant Point (near Timaru), Waihi Crossing, Kowai Pass, and Stoke (Moeraki Downs), districts. The school at ■South Selwyn has been brought under the •operation of the Ordinance, and is now carried on in suitable buildings lately erected. A master's house has been built in the Mount Grey Downs district. The school at Prebbleton has been brought under the control of an annually elected committee, in •accordance with resolutions passed at a public meeting summoned by the Chairman of the Board, the committee of the church school, previously in existence, having forwarded to the Board an application requesting that a Government school might be iounded in the district. A new school -room has been put up on land vested in the Superintendent for schooj purposes, on which a master's house had already been built by the Board in the year 1864. The total amounts, paid out of the Provincial Treasury for the. erection of the buildings above mentioned, hate been as follows :— Hororata — Master's house and schoolroom, £250 ; North Kowai — Master's house and schoolroom, £195 5s 3d; South Selwyn— "Master's house and schoolroom, £267 ; Mount Grey Downs — Master's house, £60 ; Prebbleton — Schoolroom, £70 ; Halkett (on account), £97. Of these sums the inhabitants in each of the respective districts have contributed at least one-fourth, in Accordance with the terms of the Education Ordinance, 1864. The school at Broadfield, near Prebbleton, at present in receipt of a special grant of £2 per head for every child in average attendance, will shortly be replaced by one iounded under the provisions of the Ordinance. A new and commodious building for St. Andrew's School, Christchurch, has been erected by means of local contributions. Tbe Board is informed that the residents of Kaiapoi are making efforts to provide better accommodation for the children of the Kaiapoi Wesleyan School. Public meetings have been held in Timaru, with the view of obtaining increased educational facilities, and the Board has expressed its willingness to aid the residents to the best of its power in furthering the desired object. With regard to the statistics for tbe year 1869, it will be found that the total number of attendants at ordinary schooh aided by the Board during the December quarter, was 3356, being an increase of 374 on the same quarter of 1868. The average attendance during tbe December quarter, 1869, was 2362, an increase of 330 on the same quarter of the previous year. Tbe annexed table shows the total and average attendance of children during the years 1867-8-9 at ordinary sohools in receipt ot aid from the Board, as well as the sums spent in the maintenance of such schools, and the amount of school fees received : —

Sums amounting to £315 15s were paid into the Treasury by the residents of the South Selwyn, Hororata, North Kowai, and Halkett districts, as local contributions towards the erection of school buildings in their respective districts. If from the total amount spent during the past year the sums spent on the maintenance of superior schools on scholarships and on the establishment of new schools be deducted, the current expenditure on ordinary schools will be found to

be £5247 3s lid. The average attendance of children being ?208, the current expense to Government in educating each child has been £2 78 6d, or a reduction of 7s Id on the current expense during 1868, during which year the coat was £2 14s 7d ; during 1867, £2 143; and during 1866, £2 16s 9d. The stimulus to every-day work given by the chance of obtaining a Government Scholarship, seems to be acknowledged by all interested in the education of the youth of the province. In order, however, that this stimulus may be permanent, it is desirable that the revenue, out of which the scholarship is provided for, may be placed on a permanent basis, so that a reasonable certainty may be afforded to every boy below the stipulated age, that the studies which he may undertake, with the special view of trying for a scholarship, will not be thrown away as far as his chance of obtaining such scholarship is concerned. The scholarships competed for during the past year were four in number.The examination did not take place in June, 1869, as originally proposed, but in March of the present year. The scholarships were open to all boys resident in the province below eleven years of age, and the subjects of examination were identical with those required in previous years for the junior scholarships. The names of thirty-three qualified candidates were received, viz: — Six from the Wesleyan School, Christchurch ; four from the Kaiapoi Church School; two from the Kaiapoi Wesleyan School; two from the Upper Heathcote School; two from the Avonaide School; one from the Christ's College Grammar School; one from St. Luke's School; one from the High School, Christchurch; one from St. Albans School; one from the Papanui Church School; one from the Broadfield School; one from the Templeton School; one from the Leeston School; one from the Halswell School; one from the Rangiora Boys' School; one from the Governor's Bay North School; one from Mr Gridley's School; one from the Rev. J. D. Fergusson's School; one from Mrs Alabaster's School; three taught at home. All these candidates underwent a preliminary examination, and the fourteen boys who passed most satisfactorily competed in the final one. With regard to two other candidates, it was decided that, although their attainments in other subjects were such as would have entitled them to a place among the candidates in the preliminary, yet their total want of knowledge on the subject of arithmetic rendered them ineligible to compete in the final examination. The scholarships were ultimately awarded as follows: — 1. William Charles Bean, Kaiapoi Church School; 2. Arthur E. Bird, High School, Christchurch; 3. William H. Herbert, Templeton School; 4. Henry J. Knowles, Rev. J. D. Fergusson's School. It is worthy of remark that the same three b»ys, viz. — Bean, Bird, and Herbert, occupy the first three places in the same order in both the preliminary and final examinations; and although six weeks elapsed between the two, and boys who worked hard and were efficiently taught in the interval, on the second occasion considerably improved their original position, yet the two lists exhibit very similar results. A prize of books was awarded to George Wedge, of the Wesleyan School, Christchurch, the number of whose marks only fell short by seven of those obtained by Knowles. With regard to the boys already in possession of Government scholarships, it appeared j to the Board that Walter S. Bean, A. J. Par-| eon, and A. J. Merton, the only scholara remaining in December, 1869, at ordinary schools, might advantageously be removed to the superior ones. At the desire of their respective parents, therefore, all the three boys entered the Christ's College Grammar School. The following are the names of the Government Scholars and the schools at which they are being educated :—

At the commencement of the present year Thomas W. Wilkinson resigned the scholarship which he had held for three-and-a-half years. The Board observes with satisfaction that the boys who have obtained scholarships have continued to maintain a very good position in the schools at which they have been educated. From this it would appear that it is quite possible even at the early age at which the examination takes place to select

those who, at a later time, are destined to distinguish themselves. A decided improvement has taken place amongst the ordinary schools in the knowledge shewn by the scholars of the geography of New Zealand, the Board having frequently pointed out to local committees the necessity of children being thoroughly acquainted with the topography of their native country. Several baoks on this branch of study are now in print, but their price, consequent on the high cost of publication, prevents the extensive use of them in the schools of the province. The difficulty experienced by committees in obtaining duly qualified teachers f»r new schools, or for vacancies occurring in schools already in existence, has increased rather than diminished. Few of the candidates for such appointments have had previous experience in teaching ; the trial of the greater number, therefore, is so far an experiment. The want alluded to will be still more felt as the population increases, and the schools become more numerous. The Board is of opinion that this want can only be met by the establishment of a normal school. The funds of the province would, it is assumed, be insufficient to defray the very considerable expense of such an institution, and for this reason, as well as because there is no guarantee that the masters so trained would remain in the province, the Board considers it desirable that a normal training school for the whole colony should be established by the General Government. With regard to destitute children, whose parents are too poor to pay the school fees, it is suggested by the Board that it should be empowered to require the authorities of a school receiving Government aid to admit a moderate number gratuitously. The Board having noticed that much inconvenience has at times arisen from unsatisfactory and indefinite agreements being made between teachers and local committees, has issued a circular recommending that a distinct arrangement should be entered into between the contracting parties as to the length of notice necessary when the master's services are no longer required by the committee ; and further, that it Bhould be stated in the agreement that the master's salary was a quarterly one ; and, in the event of a portion of it being derived from the money granted by the Board, that the payment of such portion should be contingent on the continuation of the grant. Prizes have been given by the Board to twenty of the scholars in the ordinary schools for diligence and good conduct during the past year. Ten candidates for masterships have been examined. Three of these received certificates for the special appointments they were desirous of obtaining, and three were passed as competent for the management of ordinary schools. Books, maps, and apparatus have been disposed of out of the Educational Depot to tbe value of £459 9s lOd, an increase of £199 9s lOd on the value of articles sold during the previous year.

, 3g»'g<»Sgst fc 3.5 J p^2»gg' : 3p 3 9M§o » S jt' 1 ' -■' , S^p 2h5 erac ra £" o sg* w l3 a. g »! gj g- . £. ....... °. . 5. ... ? ? ...:..-. a. :. p :::: . .^sg.s-'g.S'gSS- a. S- £££ S - f » S. Si - 8. S»S? £: S» . a : f - Sh 5s s * 21 I§l §• 9 IS- ».a <§ "g. • !§•!. Ip £I- £ ? 9 s? oa . s- £T b* o, £* go ■ o g? : : = l I : s I o - S% §- s sss s 8? 2 g, - » - p« ----p. -, ::•::::: g.: ::■::::: I. ** oo oo oo at oo od go oo go ao oo oo go oo oo oo oo oo ao EfTs! - OOSouOOSO)NSSOQO»03SOa 7 8> 1 o ____^___^__^_____________ •_■*» to o v om o !-! tj- v" P*E: p* <§• g. «. g.<g._ w _ „ g- » an t co" " * " " ■Jon" ~ " " U .-.p* p* o p* oP* o 2-2. o S. o g.o. g. <n s» O "£>»!"«!? TO'S^^wO P — . <re _. m_ « o^ 000 oQ ffl a. 02. g>a. 9 o| £■ 3 C-. - _ -'»"---» & 1 o a «::::: bo: :;: v poo p* E p- Eit g 2 n c B c Be B E.P" 2 «= 5 t» *J s> ©£. OB - - » CD 1^ „ „ OQ " ►« cr is* p - 5 °.. . o o o •■:::: o :::'• o

tall S* §-H || SE X! ffl!ll «: : ~S-§ H&sB 1. 5 ' |gS. || s. s.s *• • *$l al - I s-s I s : If *l : I S - g| S3. 8 § •:: - " g«g : a : ' :::::: S^ :| : : T§-|.'- ::==== | ! | • I ...... « : f : : I ::: : : : o : : : : i hi o * OS M, OS 03 . 03 0>«^«-»0 » g^ *-* -^o g° mm M « |_| — en oo to *~" 0) wSMOIOO », w *- O) • O .^. o*■*-o oo o 2. *- oo P* C 3 o *> E h- -j -g «3 <O O 2? » -)<O00»- 00 ,M M- ~ «> SS -■»» S 03 — CO ~» 00 tt> O C **»• • *- «^3 - CO OOllOOttO - 810? 1 . g_ Its p, en © o>O> utn o iooii,, o to od uuio to rr o <o o"m *• >— i- oooootooten °° B >"» toon ob So oen o o