75

E.—l

regulations as to the incidental expenditure, are printed in the Appendix. The effect of the reductions was not immediately felt, as the Board considered it right to give the teachers three months' notice, and a longer time elapsed before the new scale could be brought fairly into operation. But before the end of the year the expenditure had been brought within the revenue ; and the estimates for the year 1889 show that, should no unforeseen circumstances occur, the capitation allowance, with the £500 granted for inspection, will meet all the Board's ordinary expenses. New Schools and Buildings.—During the year 1888 new school districts were formed at Dromore, Buapuna, Marshland, and Glenroy (Upper Hororata). Of these, only Dromore and Glenroy were actually new, Marshland and Buapuna being formed by a division of the New Brighton and Mayfield districts respectively. New schools were built at Westerfield, Marshland, Dromore, Ladbrookes, and Belfast (side) ; large additions were made to the schools at Harewood Boad and Halswell; and considerable improvements to schools at Spreydon, St. Alban's, Oxford East, Mount Somers, Kow T ai Bush, French Farm, German Bay, Fendalton, South Town Belt, Akaroa. A comparatively large expenditure was required at the Normal School and the Christchurch East Main School on account of damage done by an earthquake. The total expenditure under the head of buildings during the year was £4,579 14s. 6d. Maintenance of Schools.—The amount paid during the year for teachers' salaries and allowances was £50,749 18s. 10d., and the incidental expenses for the maintenance of schools amounted to £6,400 7s. 5d.; making a total of £57,150 6s. 3d. The following table shows the amount spent on salaries and incidentals during each year from 1878 inclusive : —

Table No. 7 gives the names of the teachers employed in each school, with the salary payable to each, and the amount of incidental expenditure in each school district. The number of teachers employed at the end of the year 1888 was 516, of whom 191 (twenty-two less than at the end of 1887) were pupil-teachers. The number of sewing mistresses was forty-one. Attendance.—The number of school districts at the close of the year w T as 140: and the number of separate schools, including the practising department of the Normal School (but not the Model School, which, however, is practically separate), was 156. One of these, at Cough's Bay, was an aided school. -A second aided school, at Okuku, was closed during the year. The schools are classified as follows :— Under 15 pupils ... ... 9 75 and under 100 ... ... 14 15 and under 20 pupils ... 11 100 „ 150 ... ... 16 20 „ 25 ... ... 17 150 „ 300 ... ... 11 25 „ 50 ... ... 45 300 „ 500 ... ... 6 50 „ 75 ... ... 22 500 and upwards ... ... 5 The usual returns of the number and ages of the children, and of the number receiving instruction in each subject, are appended. The following table shows the total number on the rolls, the number in average attendance, and the percentage of attendance in the schools in this district for each year since the present Education Act came into operation:—

Inspection.—The annual reports of the Inspectors, which with the accompanying statistical tables are printed in the Appendix, deal fully with questions relating to the condition of the schools

Year. Salaries. Incidental. Total. 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 £ s. d. 31,919 0 0 34.417 14 6 38,136 17 8 36,683 4 11 39.418 13 11 42,240 19 10 44,727 17 4 47,543 16 4 48,686 12 10 50,991 16 6 50,749 14 6 £ s. d. 6,276 6 9 5,856 9 8 5,856 2 1 5,591 15 6 5,901 18 1 6,090 15 9 6,431 14 1 6,566 2 3 6,647 3 1 6,901 14 10 6,400 7 5 £ s. d. 38,195 6 9 40.274 4 2 43,992 19 9 42.275 0 5 45,320 12 0 48,331 15 7 51,159 11 5 54,109 18 7 55,333 15 11 57,893 11 4 57,150 6 3

Quarter ended 31st December. District Schools. Aided | Total Schools, j Schools. On Roll. Average Attendance. Percentage. 1878... 1879... 1880... 1881 ... 1882... 1883... 1884... 1885... 1886... 1887... 1888... 106 116 121 128 133 139 143 143 145 152 155 4 4 2 1 2 4 3 3 3 2 1 110 120 123 129 135 143 146 146 148 154 156 13,647 15,230 16,437 16,051 16,907 17,797 18,332 19,223 19,402 20,045 20,388 10,076 11,381 12,233 11,760 12,747 13,462 14,210 14,863 15,445 15,935 16,395 73-83 74-72 74-42 73-26 75-39 75-64 77-51 77-27 79-35 79-49 80-42