E.—lb

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realise their duties as citizens, and a course in science, in which each child carries out his own experiments and makes his own observations, should be provided for in every secondary class. Local requirements should then guide the teacher in making a selection from the additional subjects. One centre may desire to make a strong feature of a commercial course, another of an industrial course, another of a scientific course, the last perhaps chosen as a preparation for agricultural knowledge. Much has been said about preparing for the Junior Civil Service and Matriculation Examinations, and, while this view should not be altogether lost sight of. these examinations must not be made idols of. The Junior Civil Service Examination has been adapted lately to meet the needs of any scholar preparing for a commercial or scientific course, and thus it is not so much a danger as the Matriculation, in which the teaching of an extra language (Latin or French) is required. Of the many children who enter these classes only a few will matriculate in three years ; and if every child has to learn Latin or French for the sake of these few, much time will be wasted. For instance, in a town like Masterton a commercial course would probably be preferred by many scholars, and here the course in science should be so drawn up as to form a basis for a sound knowledge of agriculture. In Petone, again, the development should be on industrial lines. The city schools raise another question. When secondary departments grow in size they are likely, under present conditions, to become unwieldy attachments to primary schools and so impare their efficiency. This is one of the dangers of the system which must, under all circumstances, be most carefully avoided. The Legislature has foreseen this difficulty by providing for the disestablishment of a district high school —with a view to establish a high school —where there are not less than sixty pupils who have obtained a certificate of proficiency under the regulations of the Public-school Syllabus. About a hundred children have entered the secondary departments of each of the city district high schools, and, as over two hundred have applied for admission to the Technical School day classes, it is evident that there are nearly four hundred children in the city the majority of whom are prepared to remain at school a year or two longer if instruction can be provided for them. This shows the necessity for establishing another secondary school in the city, without in any way interfering with the work of the Wellington College or the Girls' High School. We have on previous occasions advocated the establishment of a secondary school which would, in addition to giving a wide educational training, prepare children for a commercial or an industrial life, and we recommend the Board seriously to consider the question of taking steps at once for providing such an institution. Moreover, it was clearly understood at the time of their establishment that the Terrace and Newtown District High Schools were to be regarded merely as temporary expedients for a high school. In other centres, such as Masterton and Petone, the secondary departments are likely to grow to such an extent that the Board will have to consider the question of taking advantage of the provisions allowed in section 88 of " The Education Act, 1904." If the terms " old " and " new " may be used, we may say that the old education laid too much stress on the memorising of mere words, while the new education devotes itself to arousing the power of thinking and independent judgment, and, therefore, lays the greatest stress on the methods of inciting self-activity in the child. This means, as we have said before, a change in method rather than in matter, and quality rather than quantity should be the aim of the teacher. We are quite satisfied thatjjur teachers are as earnest and conscientious as any body of workers, but we have found some of them discouraged on their first reading of the new syllabus. We can assure them, however, that careful study will clear away many difficulties, and they will find that many things in it which appear new are merely different settings of the old. A recent writer has expressed this so well that we beg leave to quote his words : " We believe in the new education as we believe in a new tune, though it contains not a tone that was not in the old despised one. We believe in it for the spirit of humanity underlying, overlying it, inspiring it, which makes the living child its subject, its untiring study, its ceaseless hope ; for its truer appreciation of the child-nature in its restless eagerness, its longings, its love of nature and of life, and its ceaseless strivings to acquaint itself with its powers, its capabilities, and its surroundings ; and for the wiser presentation of subjects suited to each stage of its advance and development, skilfully guiding its unrepressed and gladsome activities into the fruitful paths of experience and wiser satisfactions, turning aside from the dreary waste of enforced drudgery into the fresh and flowery fields of earnest, because curious, effort; and we believe in it especially for the better understanding of things and their names, its nicer observation of qualities and forms, its clearer conception of ideas, and its finer expression of thought." In concluding a report expressing satisfaction with the general condition of educational matters in this district, we desire to place on record our appreciation of the earnest and commendable spirit shown by the teachers as a body in carrying out the onerous duties which fall to their lot. The matter of the payment of teachers is a question of State policy, and one that strictly speaking does not lie within our province ; but, having regard for the true interests of education, we sincerely hope that the time is not far distant when provision will be made for more adequately remunerating men and women who are undertaking some of the most responsible duties of our social system. We have, &c, T. R. Fleming, M.A., LL.8.,) T . ,a , . F. H. Bakewell, M.A., j Ins Pe°tors of Schools. The Chairman of the Education Board, Wellington.

HA WEE'S BAY. Sir,— Napier, 31st March, 1905. All the Board schools were visited, examined, and reported on before the close of the school year. Altogether, eighty-eight public schools and six Catholic schools were examined. In eighty schools, one or more certificated teachers are engaged, and it is pleasing to note that most of the pupil-teachers now hold certificates of competency. Three new schools and one side-school were opened.