E.—l,

62

WANGANTJI. Sib,— Wanganui, 25th February, 1882. In compliance with the provisions of the Education Act, I have the honor to present the fourth annual report of the Education Board of this district, as also the several tables aud cash statements required by the Education Department. The Board now meets on the last Tuesday in each month, instead of on the Wednesday as heretofore, and it has met regularly on the appointed day. At the annual election of members, in March last, Messrs. W. H. Watt and James W. JBaker were re-elected, and Mr. George S, Bridge, of Waverley, was elected a member of the Board in lieu of Mr. McGregor. Since then there has not been any change in the constitution of the Board. Schools and Attendances. —During the year new schools have been opened at Campbelltown, in the Manawatu County, and at Woodville, in the Patea County, besides a small school at Sandridge, under the Parawanui School Committee. It will be seen that during the year 57 schools have been open. Of these, however, one (Brownlee, near Wanganui) has been closed, owing to the poor attendance. A small school, to accommodate fifty scholars, has been built at Jackeytown, near Palmerston, and this will shortly be in operation. Eeturn No. 1* gives the names, status, and emoluments of teachers at these schools. The average attendance for the four quarters, under the head of " Working Average," is 3,418, whilst last year, under the same heading, gives a return of 3,292. As the attendances shown on Eeturn No. 2f will appear somewhat uneven, and the increase for the last quarter may not equal expectations, it is necessary to explain that the attendance has been much affected by two causes : first, by the exclusion of children under five years of age, in accordance with the Government circular issued in May last; and, secondly, by the prevalence of measles in many of the districts. In connection with the former cause, the Board at once gave the necessary instructions to exclude the attendances from the Government returns, but at the same time it issued a circular stating that, with a view of permitting arrangements to be made by the local Committees with the parents, it recommends that no children be excluded from the schools. This license was taken advantage of in many cases, and satisfactory arrangements were entered into between the parents and Committees. Another phase, however, presented itself with regard to the Government order for the exclusion of the infants. It was found that the salaries of the teachers in the smaller schools, who are paid upon average attendance, would suffer, and the Board therefore addressed a circular to the Committees asking them to take steps to make up the deficiency. School Districts. —During the year new school districts have been formed at Beaconsfield, Manawatu; and at Manaia and Ngaire, Patea. At Manaia a member of the Board (Mr. Coutts), acting as commissioner, met some forty of the settlers, and arranged for a site of 4| acres upon which to build a school. Similar arrangements were made at Ngaire, whilst at Beaconsfield the settlers have purchased a site which they intend to hand over to the Board. Buildings.'—The several works undertaken by the Board last year were completed as far as the limited funds at its disposal would permit. The accommodation aiForded, however, proved to be totally inadequate to the requirements of the educational district, and, owing to the numerous demands for increased room, the Board was compelled to appeal to Government for an advance in anticipation of the grant in aid for buildings. The appeal was met by an instalment of £1,000 being placed at its disposal, and the Board was thus in a measure enabled to comply with the more urgent requirements, whilst the subsequent Government grant for buildings enabled it to proceed with the necessary additions and repairs which had hitherto been postponed, and to call for tenders for the erection of schools in the new districts. The new buildings actually completed comprise a schoolhouse and residence at Campbelltown, Manawatu ; a schoolhouse at Jackeytown, Manawatu ; and the purchase of a residence and site at Crofton. Additions have been made to the schoolhouses at Patea, Hawera, Waverley, Normanby, Awahuri, Stoney Creek, Palmerston North, Sanson, Greatford, Karere, and Taonui. Some of these additions proved to be insufficient, but were undertaken to relieve the most urgent demands before the last building grant was allocated. Since then the Board has found it necessary to authorize considerable extensions to the schools at Hawera, Palmerston North, and the Wanganui Infant School, and has accepted tenders for the erection of a school at Manaia to accommodate 200 children, and one at Ngaire, to accommodate 120. It further contemplates the erection of residences at Foxton and Otaki. Besides the above important works, general repairs throughout the district have been attended to, water-tanks have been supplied, and fences erected when required. It will be seen from the above statement that the funds at the Board's disposal have been very generally distributed through the district. This Board does not bind itself by any iron rule to erect either schools or residences in any particular locality, but will meet the wants of each district in such a manner as in its judgment is most conducive to the public weal. In adopting plans for the new buildings and extensions, the Board, in the interests of the entire district, has kept in view the necessity of confining itself to a plain and useful style of architecture, without useless and expensive ornamentation ; space, proper ventilation, light, and good building materials being the main features aimed at. In June last a severe shock of earthquake caused damage to several of the school chimneys in the district, and necessitated an outlay for repairs not previously contemplated by the Board. Eeturns Nos. 1 and 2, re buildings, give full information respecting the building operations. It will be seen that during the ensuing year new schools will be required at Woodville and Beaconsfield, and an extension of the Wanganui Girls' District High School may be necessary, as it is now often much crowded. Teachers' residences are also required at Manaia, Ngaire, Eiverton, Waitotara, Makino Eoad, and Parawanui. Messrs. Eoss and Wright have continued to act as the Board's architects during the year upon the same terms as originally reported, aud have given every satisfaction. Scholarships.—'From the special grant for this purpose, the Board established nine scholarships of three different values, all tenable for one year, viz.: A, four at £30 per annum each ;B, three at £25 per annum each ; and C, two at £20 per annum each. These were competed for in August last under the regulations approved by the Education Department, and seven were won by the following scholars: Eoberfc

* Included in Table No, 9, pp. 17-18. t Included in Table No. 10, p. 47.