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3. Work of the Highest and Lowest Classes. Boys. Highest. —Latin—Caesar, Book I.; Horace, Odes, Book 111., 1, 2, 3; Public School Latin Primer; exercises in Shorter Latin Primer ; Simpson's Caesarian Prose ; Bradley's Arnold, to exercise 35. French—Macmillan's Second Reader, pages 1 to 60; Second French Course, exercises 1 to 60; Chardenal's Second Course. Arithmetic —whole subject. Algebra—Hall and Knight, to quadratics. Euclid (Hall and Stevens), to end of Book 111., with deductions. English— Smith's Grammar; Mason's Grammar ; Longmans' School Composition; Brown's English Literature (selections). Shorthand—Pitman's Instructor. Singing, drawing, and drill. Science—Sound, light, and heat (Chambers's Text-book) ; Murche's Lectures on Physiology. Lowest. —Arithmetic—To decimals ; general questions on the whole subject. Algebra (Hall and Stevens), to page 50; general questions up to quadratic equations. Euclid (Hall and Stevens), Book 1., and questions up to proposition 26. French—Chardenal's First Course. English—Relfe, VI. Reader; Longmans' Composition; Zealandia Composition. Longmans' Geography. Gardiner's History. Latin —Abbott's Via Latina, exercises 1 to 35. Music—Sight-singing Manual. Drawing from flat. Writing—Jackson's Civil Service Manual. Science—Murche's Physiology. Girls. Highest. —English—Selections from Macmillan's VI. Reader ; Shakespeare's Richard 11. ; Spencer's Faerie Queene, Book I.; Milton's Paradise Lost, Book I.; Morris's Grammar; lessons from Abbott and Seeley's English Lessons for English People ; essay-writing and other English exercises. History and Geography as for matriculation. Latin —Bradley's Arnold; Principia Latina, Part 11. (the history) ; Caesar's Gallic Wars (sight translation) ; selections for reading from various authors. French—Wellington College Grammar ; Oxford and Cambridge Reader ; Au Coin de Feu. Arithmetic—whole subject. Algebra—including quadratic equations, theory of indices, logarithms, progression. Euclid —Books 1., 11., and 111. Physiology—Murche, with supplementary lessons. Botany—Morphology and Physiology of various botanical types. Scripture—The Books of Genesis and Exodus. Lowest. —English—Chambers's VI. Reader; parsing in full; analysis of simple and complex sentences ; composition lessons and essay-writing. Arithmetic—Simple and compound rules ; practice ; vulgar and decimal fractions ; easy problems. History—The Citizen Reader, and lessons from Miss Buckley's History. Geography—Asia, Africa, North and South America. French— Chardenal, Part 1., 136 exercises. Science—Paul Bert's First Year of Scientific Knowledge : animals ; plants ; heat. Latin—Principia Latina, Part 1., up to the passive voice. Scripture— The Books of Genesis and Exodus. Drawing —Freehand and model; shading. Drill—Exercises with rods and dumb-bells. Singing—Easy songs. 4. Scholarships. Free education was given to two pupils.

OTAGO BOYS' AND GIELS' HIGH SCHOOLS. 1. Report op the Board. Sir,— Dunedin, 13th April, 1897. I have the honour to forward herewith Report of the Board of Governors of the Otago Boys' and Girls' High Schools for the year ending 31st December, 1896. I am pleased to say that the attendance at the Boys' School, though not so good as might be desired, showed a slight increase over the previous year; that of the Girls' School, however, is still below what it should be, a fact that is mainly due to the competition of private schools for girls which have been established in Dunedin. During the year twenty-nine boys and seventeen girls received free education by reason of their having obtained 50 per cent, of the attainable marks in the Otago Education Boards' Senior and Junior Scholarship Examinations. This concession is undoubtedly a great boon to deserving children ; but it is a severe tax on the Board's finances, which are greatly diminished by the falling-off in revenue through the enforced reduction of pastoral rents. It was only by the exercise of the strictest economy that ti.e Board was enabled to keep its expenditure within reasonable distance of its income during the last year, and any further loss of revenue from the reduction of rents of the endowments will seriously embarrass its finances, and will render the efficient management of the schools a matter of extreme difficulty. It is gratifying to note that the work of the schools during the year, as evidenced by the results of recent examinations, has been efficiently carried out, and that the health of the scholars has been good. I have, &c, The Hon. the Minister of Education. John F. M. Fraser, Chairman.