E.— I A.

1903. NEW ZEALAND.

EDUCATION: TEACHERS' AND CIVIL SERVICE EXAMINATIONS. [In continuation of E.-1a, 1902.]

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

The Inspector-General of Schools to the Hon. the Minister of Education. Sir, — Education Department, Wellington, 23rd September, 1903. I have the honour to report upon the annual examinations for teachers' certificates, and for admission to or promotion in the Civil Service. The examinations were held in January, between the 6th and the 14th days of the month, at the thirteen towns which are the seats of Education Boards, and also at Whangarei, Thames, Tauranga, Gisborne, Palmerston North, Masterton, Westport, Oamaru, Palmerston South, and Lawrence. The number of candidates was 1,232, and of entries 1,244, made up as follows : For the Civil Service Junior Examination, 437; for the Civil Service Senior Examination, 120; for certificate examinations, 687; for drawing only (pupil-teachers), 9. Of the 437 candidates for the Junior Examination 16 entered for the Senior Examination as well, and 5 for certificate examinations. The number of candidates absent from examination was 105. The expenses of the examinations amounted to £868 9s. 9d., and the fees paid by candidates to £969 16s. Printing and clerical work are not included in the account of expenses. The results of the Civil Service Examinations were made known on the 20th February, and those of the teachers' examinations on the 13th March. Of the 120 Civil Service Senior candidates 49 came up to complete examinations in which they had already been partially successful. In all 21 passed the whole examination, 26 achieved partial success at the whole examination, and 17 passed the first of the two sections into which the examination may be divided. The names of 282 of the Civil Service Junior candidates were published in the order of their marks in the Gazette, and 132 failed to reach the minimum required, which was 40 per cent, of the possible total. Of the 9 pupil-teachers who entered under the regulation which allows them to come up for one division of drawing at a time, 3 satisfied the examiners. At the teachers' examination, 9 were candidates for Class C (University examinations being taken into account), 172 were candidates for the whole examination for Class D, and 164, having been credited with "partial success" for Class D, came up to complete their examination; 223 were candidates for the whole examination for Class E, and 120 came up to complete the examination for that class. Among these 687 candidates were 158 candidates who had already passed for Class E, and were seeking promotion to Class D ; and of the remainder—s29 in number—23s were teachers in the service of the Boards, 212 were pupil-teachers, and 40 were normal-school students in training; while 18 were persons who had ceased to be teachers, pupil-teachers, or normal students, and 24 had never sustained any such relation to the public schools. Of the whole number of 687 candidates, 199 have "passed" (6 for O, 111 for D, and 82 for E), and 229 have achieved " partial success " (2 for C, 96 for D, and 131 for E), while 275, including 75 absentees, have failed to improve their status. As the result of the examination, 126 new certificates have been issued (4 for Class C, 43 for Class D, and 79 for Class E), and 63 certiiicates"of Class E have been raised to Class D, I—E. la.