E.—lo.

12

discount and present worth, stocks, and compound interest, and limiting the treatment of decimal fractions substantially to finite decimals; and (d) by omitting the geometrical drawing now prescribed for 'Standards IV. and V. 5. Mr. Purdie to move, That the syllabus should be materially lightened in the case of schools in charge of a sole teacher. 6. Mr. Harkness to move, That the number of class-subjects be reduced, and the number of additional be correspondingly increased, with a view to lessen the burden of subjects taught by sole teachers. 7. Mr. Crowe to move, That grammar be made a pass-subject in Standards 111., IV., V., VI., and that the present demands in this subject in Standards IV., V., VI., be considerably lessened. 8. Mr. Spencer to move, That the syllabus in composition be modified, and that from Standard 11. to Standard VI. a better graduated scheme of work be adopted ; that only so much grammar as is necessary to give a rational comprehension of the principles of composition be taught. 9. Mr. Morton to move, That the syllabus in grammar be defined, and included with composition as a pass-subject. 10. Mr. Petrie to move, That the Minister be asked to adopt the following scheme for instruction in grammar :— Standard 111. : To point out the parts of speech in a simple sentence, and to know the function of each word, and the subject and predicate of the sentence. Standard IV. : To point out all the parts of speech and the adjective and adverb phrases in an easy sentence, to know the functions of the words, to point out the clauses and the joining words, and to know the case, number, and person of nouns and pronouns. Standard V.: The parsing of nouns, pronouns, and adjectives, and the tense, number, ■and person of verbs ; also to know the connection and functions of the clauses, and the usual positions of clauses and phrases in a sentence. Sentences used as a test to contain not more than three clauses-, and their sense to be quite plain. Standard VI.: The complete parsing and analysis of sentences of ordinary difficulty, and knowledge of the order of words, phrases, and clauses, and of the common figures of speech. 11. Mr. Hill to move, — (1.) That the syllabus of instruction be differentiated for the colony. (2.) That a pass in reading, writing, and arithmetic be essential below Standard V., with at least two other subjects in Standard 1., three in Standard 11., four in Standards 111., IV., and V. ; and that Standard VI. have seven pass-subjects, of which reading and writing may be optional. (3.) That when subjects outside reading, writing, and arithmetic are selected, no change be made by a teacher without the approval of a School Committee and the Inspector of Schools. (4.) That passes be made by the principal teacher, who shall be held responsible for the issue of such to his pupils. (5.) That an Inspector have the right to examine a class or the whole school should he be dissatisfied at his inspection visit with the character and condition of the school-work. 12. Mr. Goyen to move, That the second paragraph of Begulation 2, the whole of Regulations 3, 4, and 7, and Regulation 6, from " and he," second line, to end, be cancelled. That the following be substituted : " The classification of a school shall be made by the head-teacher, who shall have full discretion to arrange his pupils in different classes for different subjects according to their ability and proficiency with respect to the several subjects, and to group two or more classes for instruction in one subject. This discretion he must exercise to the satisfaction of the Inspector, who will regard as an element of weakness any undue complexity in the classification of pupils. As a general rule, pupils should be classified according to their capacity and attainment in English and arithmetic respectively, classification in English being determined by proficiency in English, and classification in arithmetic by proficiency in arithmetic." That the following be substituted for Regulations 11 and 12: "The head-teacher shall hold periodic examinations of his school, and shall enter in a book provided for the purpose the results gained by each pupil. He shall also preserve, for the information of the Inspector, a copy of the questions and the written answers of the pupils. Before the Inspector's annual visit for examination, the head-teacher shall prepare class-lists, which shall contain the names and ages of all the pupils on the school-roll, with the number of half-days on which each pupil has attended the school since the last annual examination by the Inspector. The class in which a pupil is placed for English shall determine the list on which his name shall appear. In general, a pupil shall be expected to pass through one class in each subject in a year; and the head-teacher shall, by underlining in red ink the figures opposite the name of any pupil, indicate the subjects in which such child has not passed a standard higher than that passed at the Inspector's previous examination." That in Regulation 14 the word " one " be substituted for " two," in lines 9 and 10. That geography and drawing be deleted from the pass-subjects for the certificate of proficiency. That when a child leaves one school for another the head-teacher shall furnish him with a written statement showing—(l) The class or classes in which he is placed for English and arithmetic; (2) the date of the last Inspector's examination ; and (3) the number of half-day attendances he has made since that examination. That the certificates of proficiency awarded to pupils of Standard VI. shall show in what subjects the pupil passes Standard VI., and in what subject or subjects he passes Standard V. 13. Dr. Anderson to move, — (1.) That paragraph 3, Regulation 2, be amended by the addition of some such words as the following: " but to qualify for examination in any class the pupil must have been taught