11

H.—l

existing debts and to provide necessary school buildings. An Act conferring upon the governing bodies such powers as we have suggested, would not only liberate some of the older schools from embarrassment, but would also enable schools which have just been established, or which it is proposed to establish under recent Acts of the Assembly—such as the "Waitaki and Southland High Schools —■ to commence operations, or to complete their schemes of work, free from the pressure of financial difficulties. The same power might also be conferred upon the University colleges. We further recommend that the fees at secondary schools be not lower than £10 per annum, except in the case of two or more members of one family receiving education at the same school. Turning now to the management of these schools, we find that the govern- ■ ing bodies present a marked diversity in their constitution. The Board of J Governors of the Auckland College and Grammar School consists of seven members, three of whom are elected by the Auckland Board of Education, three by the members of the Assembly for the Auckland Provincial District —resident members of the Legislative Council being included—and the seventh is the Mayor of the City of Auckland for the time being. One of the three members elected by each of the two electoral bodies retires annually, but retiring members are eligible for re-election. In the case of the Wellington College the Board consists of eight persons ; the Mayor of Wellington and the two members of the House of Representatives for the City of Wellington being members ex qfficio, and the remainder being nominated by the Governor and holding their offices for life. The management of the Nelson College is vested in a Council of Governors constituted by an Act of the Assembly; the first Council, nine in number, being appointed by name. Vacancies occurring in the Council are now filled up by His Excellency the Governor —who is the Visitor of the College —and the persons so appointed hold their offices for life, unless they incur certain disabilities or are absent from their duties for a period of six months. The governing body of Christ's College, Christchurch, was originally constituted under an Ordinance of the Provincial Legislature of Canterbury, in which the members were appointed by name and designated Eellows of the College. The Fellows hold office for lite, unless they leave the country or incur any of the disabilities mentioned in the Ordinance. The number of Eellows is limited to twenty-five. Vacancies arc supplied by Eellows elected by the governing body itself. The Board of Governors of the Otago Boys' and Girls' High Schools numbers seven members, two of whom are nominated by the Governor, two appointed by the Council of the University of Otago, and two appointed by the Otago Education Board. The Mayor of Dunedin is a member ex offioio. The tenure of office of all the members is for one year, but retiring members are eligible for re-election. The Christchurch Girls' High School is under the Board of Governors of the Canterbury College, the constitution of which has been already described; and the Auckland Board of Education is charged with the administration of the High School for Girls which has for some years been in operation at Auckland. The high schools which have recently been established—namely, the Southland, Timaru, and Thames High Schools —and most of those which are to be established under Acts passed by the Assembly in 1878 —namely, the Ashburton, Waitaki, and Whangarei High Schools—are constituted much more nearly on a uniform model. In all these the principle has been acted upon that the governing bodies should contain both an elected and a nominated element; but the electing bodies are varied to suit the circumstances of different places. In all of them, too, the Mayor of the Municipality, or the Chairman of the County Council, is an ex-officio member of the governing body. Some other new schools, however, have been placed under the management of bodies previously constituted, instead of under independent boards. Thus, the Boys' High School at Christchurch, the buildings for which are now in course of erection, has been committed to the charge of the Board of Governors of the Canterbury College, while the proposed high schools at Wanganui and New Plymouth are to be managed respectively by the Education Boards of these districts. We proceed to consider the internal organization and working arrangements of < the schools. The headmasters, or, as they are styled in some instances, rectors or !

Governing bodies of secondary schools.

Organization of g^pf a ary