H.—li.

28

of marks to be awarded for each correct answer, and some scale of reduced marks for answers not strictly correct, but showing more or less knowledge of the subject under treatment. The percentage of marks necessary to constitute a pass should also be strictly defined, and in every case the average percentage of marks gained in each class should be recorded, as well as the percentage of passes, the latter alone, as I have frequently had occasion to point out, being very misleading and utterly untrustworthy as a criterion of the relative merits of schools. For instance, assuming that 50 per cent, of the possible marks (or, where marks are not at present recorded, that four correct answers out of seven) constitute a "pass," two schools might be credited with the same number of "passes," and the inference would he that they were equally efficient. Yet in one case a little over the 50 per cent, of marks (or four correct answers) might have been recorded, and in the other 90 per cent, of marks (or six or seven correct answers). It has been remarked by one of our Inspectors that this method of examination reduces the Inspector to the position of a " mere recording clerk," and no doubt it does for the time; but surely it is better that, since this record is demanded, and is absolutely necessary, it should at least have the merit of being reliable for the only purpose it can possibly serve —namely, as a means of comparing the state of elementary education in different parts of the colony. Moreover, while following strictly the method of examination supposed to he prescribed, it would be quite competent, and indeed more necessary than ever, for the Inspector to report as fully as heretofore upon the many important elements of an intelligent education which it is impossible to reduce to tables, or to prescribe in the standards —the mere examination of schools being, as another Inspector has remarked, the least important part of his duties. In this, as in my last, report I have abandoned the practice of making a separate statement about each school, and have therefore conformed to the almost universal custom in this and the neighbouring colonies. I have been led by experience to the conclusion that the practice of so doing is productive of more harm than good, particularly if it be the unpleasant duty of the Inspector to find fault with anything connected with the working and management of the schools. The report, being generally published in the newspaper circulating in the district, is read and commented on by parents in the presence of their children, thereby lessening, perhaps, their respect for their teacher, and, as a consequence, tho influence of the teacher over his pupils. It, moreover, gives a handle to any person who may be unfriendly to the former, which may be, and often is, used to his disadvantage. Any shortcomings or irregularities observed by an Inspector must of course be reported and promptly remedied; but such reports should he of a confidential nature, and not made public property at the risk of lowering the teacher in the eyes of his scholars, or of unnecessarily wounding his self-esteem. If any teacher is unfit for his position he should be removed as soon as possible ; hut to the last day of his holding office his authority should be acknowledged and upheld. I have, therefore, in this report given only general results, and have made, as a rule, only general remarks. I shall not fail, however, to point out to the Committee, to the Board, or to both, anything which strikes me as requiring reform in an}' school in the district; but this will be done in a separate and confidential report, which I suggest should only be communicated to the parties immediately interested. This portion of the report will also contain suggestions respecting any repairs or alterations required, and will draw attention to any "deficiency in school apparatus or furniture. PupiL-TEACnEES.—Following the course adopted last year, I examined all the pupil-teachers at the same time as the schools in which they aro serving. The number of pupil-teachers examined was 32, of which number G females were examined for admission to the first class, 12 females and 3 males for the second class, 4 females and 2 males for the third class, and 3 females and 2 males for the fourth class. Tables are appended showing the names of the pupil-teachers arranged in the order of merit in their respective classes, and tho marks obtained by each in every subject. Ono pupilteacher entered for the second class failed to pass the examination, and has since resigned. One female pupil-teacher entered for the third class also failed; but I recommend that she be allowed another year's trial, remaining, meantime, in the fourth class. One female pupil-teacher entered for the fourth class failed, and, as this is the second time she has been examined with the same result, I cannot recommend the retention of her services in the capacity of a pupil-teacher. One male pupilteacher entered for the fourth class also failed to pass; but, as this is his first examination, and as lam of opinion that he is not solely to blame for t nis failure, I recommend that he also be allowed to have another trial. The regulations hitherto in force in this district with regard to the employment, training, and payment of pupil-teachers, which were framed to meet the circumstances of the district nearly five years ago, appear to me to require remodelling ; and the programme of instruction must also be amended, to bring it more into harmony with the Government standards and the teachers' examinations. I have therefore prepared a new set of regulations for your consideration, in which I have, among other alterations, suggested an increase of pay to pupil-teachers of the second and first classes, together with a small bonus to be paid to such as pass their examinations with credit. With regard to pupil-teachers, the important question, how to dispose of them at the expiration of their term of service, is beginning to press for an answer. At the expiration of the year now current five pupil-teachers will have completed their apprenticeship, aud in the following year fourteen more will have done the same, and, as far as any existing regulations go, they will then cease to have any legal claim on the Board; but it is nevertheless tho duty of the Board, both in the interests of the pupil-teachers and of the district generally, to make some provision for their future training, and, when that has been accomplished, to secure their services for a term of years at a fixed salary, in order that the district may receive something like an equivalent for the cost of their education. By the terms of Reg. X. 3, pupil-teachers from any district having no training institute aro entitled to admission to any training school in the colony on the same terms and conditions as those within the district in which such training school is-situated. But there are two serious obstacles in the way of taking advantage of this clause. Ist. The great expense of sending pupil-teachers to a distance, and the cost of maintaining them while there, would have to be added to the fees payable for admission, thereby rendering the training of pupil-teachers a very costly process. 2nd. The want of uniformity in the programme of instruction for pupil-teachers in the different education districts