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Mr. Lee: Wellington 1. That the examination in S7, referred to in the departmental examination report (Form No. 22), be defined. 2. That head-teachers classify in Standards 1., 11., 111., and V , such classification to be open to revision by the Inspector 3. That children who fail to pass a standard, and who have made less than 250 attendances in the school-year, shall be counted as exempted. 4. That the present percentage of passes be discontinued. 5. That drawing and singing shall not be included in the subjects for the certificate examination, and that special certificates be issued in these subjects and in drill. 6. That there be one pupil-teacher system for the colony and one annual examination. 7 That there is need of a map of New Zealand up to date, and of good illustrations of New Zealand—physical features, industries, flora, fauna, and Maori life — suitable for school-wall furniture. Mr Morton: Westland. Whether drawing should be made a class-subject, and the question of modifying the syllabus in that subject, seem important matters for discussion. Dr Anderson North Canterbury 1. Control of the inspectorate. 2. The comparative advantage of " pass " and " class " systems of examination—■ (a.) Whether it is desirable that the present system of passes in standards for the main body of the work should be continued. (b!) What advantage, if any, would be gained by adopting instead a system of passes in subjects. (c.) Whether all attempts to represent the work of schools by means of passes in any form should be abandoned, and general estimates substituted, expressing according to definite rules the Inspector's judgment of the value of the work done in any class or subject during the year, the average of such estimates to be the criterion of a school's efficiency 3. Modifications in the syllabus as regards (1) matter or graduation, (2) grouping of subjects as " pass " or " class "-subjects. 4. How far uniformity of school-books may be desirable or can be secured, and what are the best of the existing series of Beaders to recommend. 5. How far a taste for reading may be encouraged by the use of supplementary series of reading-books to be supplied by the school authorities and selected mainly for the interest of their matter, and how far unseen tests may be applied in examination. 6. The best method of dealing with the subject of history 7 The desirability of recommending the adoption of a decimal system of weights and measures. 8. How far technical instruction can or should be given in primary schools. 9. What differences should be made in arranging and testing the work of boys and girls. Under the head of suggestion 2, I am prepared to move, — (a.) That the present system of testing instruction in schools mainly by means of individual passes in standards is fraught with many evils, and should be abandoned. b!) That in examination the main object of the Inspector should be to ascertain and report the general quality of the instruction with more or less detail according to the size of the school, and that the mode of examination and the form of report presented should be determined in the main by this view of an Inspector's duties. (c.) That a record of the performances of individual children should form no part of an examination report, but that the report should contain instead a record of the Inspector's estimate of the value of the instruction as given in each class and subject, or in each department and subject, such estimate being expressed numerically as a percentage of efficiency, and that the average of these estimates should be taken as the criterion of a school's efficiency generally (d.) That, however, an individual pass-examination be retained in Standards IV and VI., to secure in part one of the most important precautions of the existing system, to meet the requirements of the Legislature in regard to the standard of exemption from attendance and the qualification for appointments in the public service, and to supply the Government and the public with valuable statistical information. (c.) That the number of individuals satisfying the tests of such pass-examination in Standards IV and VI. be recorded in the examination report for each school, and that the Inspector be required to sign, or to authorise the signing of, a certificate for each individual so passing, but that attention should not be unduly concentrated on these passes by recording for the school any proportions or percentages in this connection, or by forwarding the marks gained by the children. (/.) That teachers be at liberty to re-present children in the same standard for examination, and should also be free to determine at their discretion the number included in Class P , but that the proportion of children so presented be recorded, and that in forming his general estimates the Inspector shall regard these matters as important factors in his judgment. (g.) That the most convenient method of including the factor of re-presentation is to deduct the proportion of such re-presentations from the average percentage of a school's efficiency, after rejecting the cases of children who have not made more than half-attendances during the year , but that no further precaution than exists at present be deemed necessary as a check on the undue retention of children in Class P