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pleted, and will be opened early in January. Temporary buildings have been secured at Bendigo and Bald Hill Flat. These schools will also be in operation about tho middle of January. There are several applications for the establishment of schools which have not yet been finally disposed of by the Board. School Attendance.—A table showing the attendance of the different schools, the amount expended upon each school, and the name, status, and emoluments of each of the teachers, is hereunto appended. The following is an abstract of the attendance at the Dunedin public schools and the other public schools of Otago, from the institution of the Otago education scheme, in the year 1856, to the present time: —

The figures for the year 1878 show a very great increase in the average attendance at the public schools of the district. Owing to the separation of the Southland District (including Southland County, Wallace County, Lake County, Fiord County, and Stewart Island County), the number of schools were reduced from 173 to 130. But, notwithstanding this diminution, the average attendance in the Otago District proper for the year is 870 in excess of that for the combined Otago and Southland Districts in 1877. This increase has usually been most conspicuous in town and village schools, and the Board has every reason to believe that it would have been much larger but for the great difficulty that has been encountered iv getting adequate accommodation provided. In Dunedin, the increase in average attendance has been considerably less than was to be expected, and has been the result rather of crowding the existing accommodation to the utmost than of the erection of the much-needed additional schools and class-rooms. The average number of attendances made by every child that attended at all during the year amounts to 59 per cent, of the possible attendances, being 3 per cent, less than in 1877. In the Dunedin schools this average was 60, and for the other schools in the district 58. The falling off of 3 per cent, in the above average appears to be mainly due to the large number of pupils who entered the schools during the latter portion of the year, and to the unusual severity of the winter. During the six months from July to December, the average number of attendances made by every child that attended at all during these six months amounted to 70 per cent, of the possible attendances, a result which is greatly above that of any of the five preceding years. It is worthy of remark that during the above six months the salaries paid to teachers have, to a small extent, depended upon the average attendance at the schools, and that the remarkable increase iv the percentage has, to all appearance, followed from the influence the teachers have exercised towards promoting more regular attendance. It would thus appear that the object the Board had in view in making the salaries vary somewhat with the average attendance has been already largely attained, to the great benefit of those under instruction. Finance. —Appended hereto is an abstract of the income and expenditure of the Board for the year 1878, certified by the auditor appointed by the Governor. A table showing the amounts contributed by the Board to each school for teachers' salaries, including bonuses, allowances to Committees, and school-buildings, is shown in Appendix A. The sum paid for teachers' salaries, including the * Exclusive of Southland.

No. of at a] Pupils who [1 in the Coi the Year. attended irse of Average ft Daily Al >r the Ye ttendance Attendance at the of the Year. Close g o I go CD E o 1 H lar. Yeae. o E > 6 o 6 d a 3 fi ii .3.2 o o si <j oa •fi Q H a § -a o o H d § P P O od 73 .856-57 .857-58 .858-59 .859-60 .860-61 .861-62 .862-63 .864 .865 .866 .867 .868 .869 .870 .871 .872 .873 .874 .875 .876-77 .877 .878 5 9 13 17 18 20 23 38 46 51 56 68 77 97 116 127 140 154 157 165 173 *134 7 11 15 19 20 22 30 51 65 71 85 103 119 150 175 190 219 266 288 329 356 334 220 228 1,024 1,418 1,295 1,193 1,216 1,262 1,431 1,423 1.647 1,631 1,762 2,176 2,620 3,094 3,191 4,875 744 1,021 1,360 2,148 2,416 2,751 3,151 3,622 4,017 5,496 7,015 8,197 9,6S8 11,505 13,477 15,256 16,422 16,660 964 1,249 2,330 3,566 3,711 3.947 4,367 4,884 5,448 0,919 8,662 9,828 11,451 13,681 16,097 18,350 19,613 21,535 115 128 114 127 125 129 653 771 918 888 897 953 1,085 1,151 1,257 1,315 1,393 1,467 1,710 2,067 2,176 2,912 121 195 333 456 486 632 758 1,148 1,415 1,680 2,045 2,325 2,472 3,529 4,449 5,376 6,032 6,886 8,112 9,143 9,573 9,707 236 323 447 583 611 810 1,411 1,919 2,333 2,568 2,942 3,278 3,557 4,680 5,706 6,691 7,425 8,853 9,822 11,210 11,749 12,619 205 734 996 1,046 934 919 1,047 1,149 1,215 1,355 1,309 1,495 1,592 2,001 2,378 2,585 3,480 705 907 1,500 1,747 2,136 2,436 2,763 3,206 4,416 5,391 6,448 7,676 8,073 10,107 11,159 11,943 12,598 910 1,641 2,496 2,793 3,070 3,3553,810 4,355 5,631 6,746 7,757 9,171 10,005 12,096 13,537 14,528 16,078