E.-l

XIV

SCHOLAESHIPS. Table B. shows the number of Education Board scholarships held in December, 1899, with their tenure and annual value. The total expenditure of the Boards under this head amounted to .£8,424 4s. 2d.; the total paid to the Boards for scholarship purposes by the department was ,£7,986 Is. lid.

TABLE R.—Scholarships.

As stated in last year's report, in some districts holders of Education Board scholarships are received into the high schools without payment of fees ; in other districts they have to pay high-school fees out of their scholarship money. But that fact and the slightly varying conditions prevailing in the different districts are not sufficient to explain the extremely diverse methods of dealing with the scholarship allowance ; in consequence of this diversity, and of the very various degrees in which assistance is offered by the different secondary schools to promising pupils from the primary schools, it can hardly be said that clever boys or girls have an equal chance in every part of the colony. Training Schools. The vote of £600 for the training of teachers was divided equally between the Normal Schools at Christchurch and Dunedin. These are at present the only training institutions for teachers in the colony ; in some other districts a certain degree of provision for the training of teachers has been made, but, owing chiefly to want of funds, it is not such as can be considered adequate. Many teachers also are prepared for their certificate examination by private tuition; it must not be overlooked that the passing of a certificate examination is a very small part of what should be required, even when superimposed upon a pupil-teacher course, and it by no means necessarily produces a trained teacher. It will become a question for consideration in the near future whether definite training for all teachers should not be provided by the State. In the case of the four large centres it will be possible to co-ordinate this with the work of the University Colleges; at the smaller centres those who cannot, by scholarships or otherwise, find admittance to the four chief Normal Schools should likewise have the opportunity, by means of classes, of undergoing a regular course of training. Eailway Passes foe Pupils of Public and Private Schools. The total amount paid under this head to the Eailway Department in 1899 was £3,294 10s., of which £1,071 was for fares of children attending private schools. School Commissionees. In Table S is given a summary of the accounts of the School Commissioners ; fuller details will be found on pages 99-110 of the Appendix.

Education Districts. Number held in Dec, 1899. Boys. Girls. Period of Tenure. Boards' Expenditure on Scholarships in 1899. Annual Value, <fec. Auckland Taranaki 82 12 49 7 33 5 Years. 3 2 £ s. d. 1,779 7 11 256 9 10 6 at £30; 23 at £25; 21 at £20; 32 at £15. 1 £35; 1 eaoh at £19, £17, and £14 ; 8 at £10. 13 at £40; 1 at £20 ; 3 at £15. 7 at £35; 33 at £15. 6 at £30 4s. ; 4 at £12 4s.; 17 at £10 4s. 5 at £40. 6 at £52 10s. 4 at £35; 4 at £10. 1 at £23 ; 1 at £16; 1 at £15 10s. ; 1 at £8 18s.; 4 at £8. 19 at £40; 18 at £20. Varies from £28 to £2 10s. 6 at £40 ; 8 at £35 ; 22 at £20; 2 at £17 ; 12 at £15. 12 at £35 ; 8 at £20. Wanganui Wellington Hawke's Bay Marlborough Nelson Grey Westland 17 40 27 5 6 8 8 11 24 14 3 3 4 3 6 16 13 2 3 4 5 Varies. 2 2 2 2 3 2 610 19 3 854 8 0 444 13 10 200 0 0 377 9 0 75 0 0 105 18 0 North Canterbury South Canterbury Otago 37 29 50 21 17 31 16 12 19 2 Varies. Varies. 1,475 15 7 380 16 10 1,275 12 4 Southland 20 14 6 Varies. 587 13 7 Totals, 1899.. Totals, 1898.. 341 332 201 205 140 127 8,424 4 2 8,109 8 8