E.—ld

8

Here, as elsewhere in the colony, a practical view is taken of these matters, and youths desire to acquire a knowledge of the natural laws which underlie the daily business of life, and which can be applied to the practical pursuits in which they may be engaged. Knowing your desire to advance the cause of technical education, I am encouraged to believe that you will aid us to the best of your ability. I have therefore to request that the Government will place at the disposal of the Board the revenues derived from the University Beserve, for the purpose of promoting the higher branches of technical education within this provincial district. I have, &c, The Hon. Bobert Stout, Thomas Kelly, Minister of Education. Chairman, Taranaki Education Board.

No. 17. The Secretary for Education to the Chairman, New Plymouth High School Board. Sir, — Education Department, Wellington, 14th May, 1885. I have the honour, by direction of the Minister of Education, to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 4th instant, recommending that the Government sh©uld ask the General Assembly to sanction the payment of the rents of the University Beserve in the Taranaki District to the New Plymouth High School Board, for the purpose of promoting technical education in the district. I am directed to state, in reply, that the Government are unable to advise the General Assembly to divert the proceeds of the university endowment reserves from the purpose for which they were originally set apart, and that it is not the intention of the Government to introduce any measure this session for dealing with the reserves in question. I may mention that none-of the lands in the Taranaki District reserved for a university endowment are under lease. Some portions that had been surveyed were put up to lease some time ago, and offers received, but the proposed leasing fell through. I have, &c, The Chairman, High School Board, New Plymouth. John Hislop.

No. 18.' The Secretary, Auckland College and Grammar School, to the Secretary for Education. Sir, — Secretary's Office, Auckland, 27th May, 1885. I have the honour to forward herewith printed copy of the Headmaster's report on technical education, which would have been sent sooner had I not been under the erroneous impression that it had been sent direct from the school. I have, &c, John Hislop, Esq., Education Department, Wellington. G. Yon der Heyde

Enclosure in No. 18. Headmaster's Beport. Technical Education. I have the honour to report, in obedience to a request from the Chairman of the Board, as to the instruction given in this school in " subjects that have a direct bearing upon the technical arts of modern life." Natural science forms a part of the curriculum for all boys in the upper school, that is, for nearly half of the whole number. In the lower school anything like exact science would be premature, and, though I know from experience gained elsewhere that even very young boys can profit by lessons in popular and quite elementary science, I have not been able to establish such lessons, because the boys, as a rule, enter this school so deficient in common subjects that an inordinate amount of time is claimed by these. Not only boys from private schools, but, in many cases, those who have passed the Fourth or even a higher standard, show themselves miserably weak in such subjects as reading and spelling. The branches of natural science taught are chemistry, the elements of physics generally, with somewhat more detailed study of heat, magnetism, and electricity, and applied mechanics, beside physiology. The more advanced boys —those in the highest two classes—do practical work in chemistry. The laboratory, in which about thirty boys can work at once, fitted up at the beginning of last year, suffices in a rough and ready way for actual needs. There is no provision for experiments by the boys in physics, and the apparatus at the disposal of the master for illustration of his teaching is only that needed in going through Balfour Stewart's Primer. For the illustration of applied mechanics there are only a few models of such simple machines as pulleys, inclined planes, and the like, and one of a beam-engine. This last has been worked before and explained to the class. An addition to the stock of models would greatly add to to the value of the teaching. It has been my wish to establish a special " natural-science side," but the upper classes are already so starved, in consequence of the short stay of most of the boys, that further subdivision would be very extravagant. Our arrangements, too, are largely governed by the programme for senior university scholarships, which favours the study of many subjects, and consequently special attention to none. Drawing is taught to nearly five-sixths of the boys in the ordinary course; those who do not learn it are the boys in some of the higher classes, in which no time can be spared for it in school