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General Statement of Beceipts and Expenditure for the Year ending 31st December, 1888. Receipts. £ a. d. i Expenditure. k a. d. To Balance at beginning of year — j By Office staff—Salaries .. .. 158 0 8 On Building Account .. .. 302 11 7 Departmental contingencies .. 115 18 5 Scholarship .. .. .. 0 0 1 Inspector's salary .. .. 333 6 8 On General Account .. .. 381 16 4 Inspector's travelling expenses .. 50 0 0 Deposit Account .. .. 18 8 0 i Examination of pupil-teachers .. 8 1 0 Government grant for buildings .. 1,066 18 6 | Teachers' salaries and allowances (inGovernment statutory capitation .. 6,368 14 1 | eluding rent, bonus, &c.) .. 5,336 16 2 Scholarship grant .. .. 130 4 3 . Incidental expenses of schools .. 865 6 9 Inspection subsidy .. .. 200 0 0 Training of teachers .. .. 100 10 0 Payments by School Commissioners .. 323 3 7 Scholarships—Paid to scholars .. 130 4 3 Donations by School Committees .. 27 8 6 School buildings— Contractors' deposits .. .. 34 10 0 New buildings .. .. 643 311 Sale of books .. .. .. 0 6 9 Improvements of buildings .. 99 15 10 Interest .. .. .. 10 0 Furniture and appliances .. 47 0 2 Sites .. .. .. 53 15 6 Plans, supervision, and fees .. 62 10 0 Contractors'deposits .. .. 52 18 0 Credit balance at end of year—■ On Building Account .. 491 9 1 On Scholarships Account 417 10 1 On General Account .. 0 0 4 908 19 6 Outstanding cheques .. 106 11 2 802 8 i £8,855 1 8 £8,855 1 8 Thomas Kelly, Chairman. E. Veale, Secretary. Examined and found correct, except as regards the items named below, for which there appears to be no authority of law, and which are therefore disallowed. £ s. d. £ s. d. Subscriptions to newspapers ... ... ... ... 0 19 6 Prizes— ... ... ... ... 2 13 9 5 11 8 3 18 6 12 3 11 Teas for Committee ... ... ... ... 0 16 0 Total ... ... ... ... £12 19 11 James Edward FitzGerald, Controller and Auditor-General.

WANGANUI. Sir, — Education Board Office, Wanganui, 25th February, 1889. I have the honour to present the annual report of this Board's proceedings "for the year ending the 31st December, 1888. Board. —The Board is composed of the following members: Mr. Gilbert Carson (Chairman), Mr. H. Sanson, Mr. J. W. Baker, Mr. J. H. Fry, Mr. J. Notman, the Bey. J. Boss, Mr. G. S. Bridge, Mr. B. E. Beckett, and Mr. J. C. Yorke. At the annnal election in March, as only two members had been nominated, and Mr. Stevens, one of the retiring members, had left the country, the Board elected Mr. J. C. Yorke, of Manaia, to fill the vacancy. During the year an extraordinary vacancy occurred by the retirement of Mr. G. V. Bate, when Mr. B. E. Beckett, of Marton, was elected by a majority of votes. The Board has met regularly upon the ordinary meeting days, in addition to which there have been numerous meetings of the Executive Committee. Seductions. —The first duty devolving upon the Board in January was to ascertain its financial position owing to the reduction in the Government grants, and the adoption of the strict in lieu of the working average. The Board therefore appointed a committee of its members to frame a new and reduced scale of teachers' salaries and bonuses, and, after much consideration and careful adjusting, it was brought into operation, and is now in course of being printed. A reduction was also made in the allowance to School Committees on account of their school fund, as well as in the salaries of the office staff. As regards the substitution of the strict for the working average, this Board does not consider the change a desirable one, although it has met the wishes of the Government by curtailing its expenditure so as to keep within its income. Inspection.—ln this respect the Board has been obliged to make a small increase of expenditure by the appointment of a clerk to relieve the Inspector from some of the heavy strain thrown upon him during the standard examination. The salary was fixed at the rate of £60 a year, and travelling expenses for the four months during which the clerk was employed. Teachers. —Early in the year the Board passed a resolution that wives of head teachers acting as assistants in the same schools as their husbands should receive three months' notice of the termination of their engagements, and in future appointments of this nature will not be made. There are now in the Board's employ 164 teachers, one school being vacant, classed as follows: Twenty-eight head male and three head female teachers, forty-one sole male and ten sole female teachers, eight assistant male and nineteen assistant female teachers, fourteen male pupil-teachers and forty-one female pupil-teachers. The Board also appoints probationers when advisable, under certain regulations, and these are drafted into schools as vacancies occur and circumstances permit.