E.—l

XIV

TABLE Q. —Deficiency of School Buildings. (In this table schools with less than ten pupils have not been counted.)

During the last few years a considerable amount of attention has been given in all parts of the civilised world to the physical conditions under which school-children work, and the general tendency of medical and school authorities is to demand greater care in providing for the healthiness of school buildings. Considerable difference of opinion among experts still exists, however, even in regard to such points as the amount of space necessary to secure a proper supply of pure air for each child in an ordinary class-room. The floor-space allotted per child varies in different English-speaking countries from 8 or 9 to 15 square feet, and the cubical space from 120 to 300 cubic feet. Some medical authorities who have written on such matters demand, indeed, as much as 400 or even 600 cubic feet per child. Considering that in most parts of New Zealand the windows of class-rooms may be kept open during most of the year, care being taken to guard against draughts, probably a reasonable standard to set up for new schools would be such as would allow not less than 12 square feet of floor-space per child, and from 200 to 300 feet of cubic space. There are, in the whole colony, 525 schools without residences, about twothirds of them being schools with twenty or more in average attendance. As in some districts no house-allowance is paid to teachers of such schools, it is obvious that their salaries, although nominally equal to, are in effect really less than those of teachers of similar schools with residences attached. SCHOLABSHIPS. Table X shows the number of Education Board scholarships held in December, 1900, with their tenure and annual value. The total expenditure of the Boards under this head amounted to £8,142 10s. 9d.; the total paid to the Boards for scholarship purposes by the Department was ,£8,076 15s. Bd.

TABLE R.—Scholarships.

Education Districts. Schools in Operation. Schools not belonging to Boards. Schools without Besidences. Schools with less than 10 sq. ft. for each Child (but not less than 8 sq. ft.). Schools with less than 8 sq. ft. for each Child. Available in 1900 lor Buildings. (Tables 0 and P.) Auckland .. .. Taranaki Wanganui Wellington Hawke's Bay Marlborough Nelson Grey Westland North Canterbury South Canterbury Otago Southland 370 61 *139 134 76 +27 100 22 22 194 68 215 143 33 4 14 16 2 6 181 19 51 89 26 4 49 13 8 36 15 9 25 12 4 1 9 2 1 1 1 1 3 1 3 6 1 1 5 1 1 £ s. d. [-866 18 10] 619 12 5 2,074 7 2 1,931 16 8 1,163 14 8 [-556 2 2] 1,008 15 11 26 3 7 881 2 4 3,102 10 9 2,258 9 3 624 3 3 1,890 14 9 1 3 2 4 4 Totals for 1900 .. Totals for 1899 .. 1,571 1,544 88 77 525 517 45 82 10 10 14,158 10 2 12,894 10 6 * Floor-space of four schools omitted. f Floor-space of one school omitted.

Education Districts. Number held in Dec, 1900. Boys. Girls. Pnvinrt Boards' ±-erioa Expenditure Termre on Scholarships 1 enure. in lg00] Annual Value, &e. Luokland ?aranaki 77 15 45 8 32 7 Years 3 2 £ s. d. 1,611 5 5 269 6 5 S at £30; 20 at £25 ; 19 at £20; 33 at £15. 2 at £35; 1 at £19 ; 1 at £17; 1 at £16 ; 2 at £14; 7 at £10; and 1 at £7 6s. 11 at £40; 1 at £32 ; 6 at £15. 11 at £35 ; 33 at £15. 7 at £30 4s. ; 3 at £12 4s. ; 16 at £104s. 5 at £40. 6 at £50 10s.; 1 at £25 ; 2 at £5. 4 at £35 ; 4 at £10. 2 at £23 ; 1 at £8 18s.; 4 at £8. 18 at £40; 20 at £20. Varies from £2 10s. to £26 10s. 8 at £40 ; 4 at £35 ; 1 at £24 ; 1 at £22 20 at £20; i at £17 ; and 13 at £15. 12 at £35; 9 at £20. Vanganui Vellington lawke's Bay larlborough Telson .. irey Vestland •Forth Canterbury South Canterbury )tago 18 44 2(3 5 9 8 7 33 30 51 9 27 14 1 4 3 3 19 16 35 9 17 12 4 5 5 4 19 U 16 Varies 2 2 2 Varies 3 2 2 2 Varies 583 7 0 951 0 0 483 13 6 186 13 4 377 7 6 112 10 0 99 5 6 1,266 5 0 346 17 6 1,242 3 4 louthland 21 13 8 Varies 612 16 3 Totals, 1900.. Totals, 1899.. 349 341 197 201 152 140 8,142 10 9 8,424 4 2