E.—l

80

Geneeal Statement of Beceipts and Expenditure for the Year ending 31st December 1894. Receipts. £ s. d. Expenditure. £ s. d To Balance— By Office staff—Salaries 315 11 8 On Building Account 3,219 3 8 Departmental contingencies 309 3 7 On General Account 2,642 13 5 Inspectors' salaries (including travelGovernment grant for buildings 2,450 0 0 ling expenses) 912 10 0 Subscriptions and donations for build- Teachers'salaries and allowances 16,151 9 9 ings (part cost of joint fence) . 40 19 0 Incidental expenses of schools 1,926 14 0 Other receipts for buildings— Training of teachers 79 19 10 Bank interest 50 12 6 Scholarships— Contractors' deposits 35 0 0 Paid to scholars 420 10 0 Refund 2 0 0 Examination expenses 17 4 3 Government statutory capitation 16,669 2 G School buildingsGovernment scholarship grant 429 7 9 New buildings . 3,106 15 2 Inspection subsidy 300 0 0 Improvements of buildings 534 0 4 Payments by School Commissioners 850 10 0 Furniture and appliances 184 11 11 Sale of school books 539 19 8 Sites 54 5 0 Bank interest 41 5 0 Refund contractors' deposits 50 0 0 Rents of land 7 5 0 Interest on overdraft 0 5 6 Received in error from a teacher 110 Purchase of school books, &o. 607 7 9 Subsidy to schools' library . 3 3 0 Refund cash paid to Board in error .. 110 Balance— On Building Account 1,867 17 3 On General Account 742 9 6 £27,284 19 6 £27,284 19 6 Geobge Talbot, Chairman. Stead Ellis, Secretary Examined and found correct.—James Edwabd FitzGebald, Controller and Auditor-General.

GEEY Sib, — Education Office, Greymouth, 4th March, 1895. In compliance with the provisions of section 102 of " The Education Act, 1877," I have the honour to submit the following report of the proceedings of the Board of the Education District of Grey for the year, ending 31st December, 1894 : — The Boaed. —During the year the constitution of the Board has undergone no change. For the vacancies on the Board caused by the retirement of Messrs. Kettle, Kerr, and White, seven nominations were received. The result of the voting was the re-election of the three gentlemen mentioned. At the ordinary meeting, held on the 10th April, Mr William Eobert Kettle was unanimously elected Chairman of the Board for the then current year, and Mr W Cameron Smith, Treasurer During the year the Board held eleven ordinary meetings and two special meetings. The following figures represent the attendances made by each member Mr Kettle (Chairman), 13, Mr White, 13, Mr Marshall, 13, Mr Petrie, 13, Mr McGuire, 13, Mr Smith, 11; Mr Nancarrow, 10, Mr Byrne, 10 , and Mr Kerr, who was necessarily absent during the parliamentary session, 8. Mr Eichard Nancarrow was reappointed as the Board s representative on the Grey High School Board. Inspectorship.—The Board's Inspector Mr. E. T Bobinson, died on the 12th of April, after a lingering illness, and, as the Board found it necessary to exercise the strictest economy as a means of reducing expenditure, it was decided not to fill the vacancy for a few months. At the September meeting of the Board Mr William L. F Fetch, M.A., Cambridge University, was appointed to conduct the annual examination of the schools. Mr Fetch entered upon his duties in October, and finished the examination of the twenty-four schools early in December The Board was so well satisfied with the manner in which Mr Fetch performed the work that at the last January meeting he was appointed permanent Inspector to the Board. Schools and Attendance.—There were twenty-four schools in operation at the close of the year to which this report refers. The teachers in the employ of the Board comprised seventeen males and thirty-seven females, or a total of fifty-four, as compared with fifty-seven at the end of 1893. Of this number, fourteen were pupil-teachers—two males and twelve females. In the matter of attendance the Board has to report a slight falling-off, owing to the great amount of sickness which prevailed during a part of the year The total number of scholars at the end of the year was 1,673, as compared with 1,680 at the close of 1893, thus showing a decrease of seven. The average weekly attendance for the whole year was 1,696, or thirty-two less than for 1893 , while the average ordinary attendance was 1,333, being eighty less than before. It is anticipated, however, that the enforcement of the provisions of the School Attendance Act will have a beneficial effect in the matter of attendance, and to that end a truant officer has been appointed for the Taylorville, Dobson, and Eichardson School Districts, in addition to the one appointed who does duty in the Greymouth School District, Pupil-teachees.—At the examination held in January eleven pupil-teachers sat for examination—two males and nine females —one for admission to Class 1., two for admission to Class 11., four for admission to Class 111., and four for admission to Class IV Of these, ten passed and one failed, the passes being one into Class 1., two into Class 11., four into Class 111., and three into Class IV Scholabships.—The annual examination of candidates for scholarships was held simultaneously with that for pupil-teachers. For the four scholarships—two town and two country—annually