E.—l

X

If we excluded the salaries of sewing-mistresses and pupil-teachers, and house-allowances paid to teachers where residences are not provided, the average salary paid to adult teachers would appear as £120 4s. 3d. Of the total number of 2,631 adult teachers (exclusive of sewing-mistresses) employed in the public schools, 2,369 were holders of certificates, 15 others had passed the certificate examination, 68 had gained a partial pass, 35 had failed, and 144 had never been examined by'the Department.

TABLE M.—Teachers, Certificated and Uncertificated, 31st December, 1900. (Numbers in brackets represent licensed teachers included in other numbers.)

Colonial Scale op Staffs and Salaeibs. Questions connected with the staffing of schools and the salaries of teachers have for some time engaged the attention of the officers of the Department. By section 35 of " The Education Act, 1877," Boards of Education have the power, inter alia, of removing and appointing teachers in the manner provided by the Act, and of administering the funds granted to them in accordance with statute. In the absence of any colonial scheme of staffs and salaries, this power has imposed upon each Board the duty of drawing up a scale of staff and of teachers' salaries for its own district. The main portion of the income of the several Boards consists of the capitation grant of £3 J ss. on the average attendance, to which may be added the special grant in aid of the cost of the inspection of schools—viz., .£4,000 —which is distributed annually. Out of this amount are payable all teachers' salaries and allowances, and the general expenses of Education Boards and of School Committees. The effect of the distribution of the money upon a capitation basis has been to place those Boards in whose districts small schools are numerous in a very different financial position from that of the Boards having the control of a fair proportion of large schools; and this has had the further consequence of producing in many districts a weakness of the teaching staff, or a low standard of salaries, or both —evils that, had circumstances allowed, the Boards in question would have been only too glad to avoid. Further, the different methods adopted for the solution of the problem have led to many anomalies in staffing and to inequalities in the salaries assigned to various positions in different parts of the colony. Some of these anomalies and inequalities were the subject of remark in last year's report. These matters concern the efficiency of the schools themselves, it may be indirectly, but none the less vitally; and the whole question in this aspect assumed an importance that made it necessary to give it the most serious consideration. The issues, however, were so numerous and so involved that it seemed best to appoint a Commission to consider the best method of establishing a uniform scale of staff and salaries to be in force throughout the colony.

Education Districts. O tfl P Sh o 05 l 3 a> 8 ■ CO g ; «' 5 ° ' to G3 Cm Ph •a ■a xi a is o EH Pupil-teachers having Certificates, not included in Column headed " Certificated Teachers." Auckland Taranaki Wanganui Wellington Hawke's Bay Marlborough Nelson Grey Westland North Canterbury South Canterbury Otago Southland 534 76 166 211 107 36 112 39 28 370 112 391 187 2 3 1 2 6 2[1] 11 11 [2] 4 2 6 3 [2] 8[1] 2 3[1] 1 5 [2] 2' 8[1] 2 1 1 1 9 3 11 20 11 [3] 37 30 2 19 2 560 84 191 245 129 77 156 46 48 385 116 401 193 51 3 14 35 10 3 10 1 1 S 2 12 3 5 3[1] 1 i' 8 Total for 1900 Total for 1899 Total for 1898 Total for 1897 Total for 1896 Total for 1895 Total for 1894 Total for 1893 Total for 1892 Total for 1891 2,309 2,345 2,325 2,244 2,179 2,084 1,984 1,914 1,826 1,753 2 2 3 ■2 1 5 5 4 6 7 13 15 28 20 17 24 24 22 19 17 68 [6] 64 [6] 55 [3] 92 [5] 96 [15] 90 [14] 85 88 94 107 35 [5] 28 [4] 42 [6] 45 [6] 42(5] 36 [4] 42 48 54 58 144 [3] 138 [4] 145 [4] 146 [3] 134 [5] 127 [5] 120 125 131 132 2,631 2,592 2,598 2,549 2,469 2,366 2,260 2,201 2,130 2,074 137 150 175 111 106