E.—l

XIII

Teachers' Superannuation. The Teachers' Superannuation Act, passed by Parliament in the session of 1905, came into force on the Ist January, 1906. There are at present 2,857 contributors, as follows:— Under 30 years of age and paying 5 per cent of salary ... 1,057 contributors. „ 35 " „ 6 „ ... 460 „ 40 „ 7 „ ... 430 „ 45 „ 8 „ ... 318 „ 50 „ 9 „ , ... 241 50 years and upwards 10 „ ... 351 „. 2,857 Since the Ist January last fifty retiring allowances have been granted, particulars of which are as follows:— £ s. d. 40 at £52 per annum ... ... 2,080 0 0 1 at £56 2s. 4d. per annum ... ... 56 2 4 1 at £53 19s. 9d. per annum ... 58 19 9 1 at £60 per annum ... ... 60 0 0 1 at £77 15s. 4d. per annum ... 77 15 4 1 at £84 15s. Id. per annum ... 84 15 1 1 at £89 os. lid. per annum ... 89 0 11 £2,506 13 5 In addition to these, three contributors are receiving £4 6s. Bd. a month pending the interpretation of section 13 of the Act, while one has received a sum of £71 ss. 6d. in full settlement of claim. The balance to the credit of the fund on the 30th June, 1906, was £13,073 9s. lid. School Buildings. The ordinary vote for school buildings, which for the year 1905-6 was charged entirely to the Consolidated Fund, was distributed, as in the previous year, in accordance with the report of the Select Committee on Education set up by the House of Representatives in the session of 1903 —namely, as follows : — (a.) The basis for the distribution of the amounts available for the ordinary repair and maintenance of schools and residences (including replacement of wornout buildings) was the present current cost of the construction of such buildings, estimated to be £1,486,606 (£1,347,958 for wooden buildings and £138,648 for those of brick or stone). (b.) The grants to Boards included an allowance for maintenance of wooden buildings at the rate of 3 per cent, of the cost of construction ; for maintenance of brick or stone buildings, 2 per cent. ; for replacing worn-out wooden buildings, 2, 5, or 10 per cent, according to age of buildings —twenty to twenty-five years, twenty-five to thirty years, or over thirty years, as the case might be ; except that no allowance was made for the replacement of worn-out residences. It will be seen that the grants made for replacing worn-out wooden buildings (exclusive of residences) assume an average age for such buildings of thirty-six and a half years, or rather less than the duration shown by returns made by the Boards two years ago. The difference is in favour of the Boards, for in the computation adopted by the time a school is thirty-six and a half years old, a Board will have received an amount for rebuilding it equal to the whole cost of its replacement. The actual distribution of the ordinary vote for school buildings was as follows:: For maintenance and replacement—Auckland, £11,446; Taranaki, £1,908; Wanganui, £4,152 ; Wellington, £4,482 ; Hawke's Bay, £3,140 ; Marlborough, £858 ; Nelson, £2,910 ; Grey, £853 ; Westland, £997 ; North Canterbury, £7,876 ; South Canterbury, £2,448; Otago, £8,729 ; Southland, £4,252: total, £54,051. The amounts paid to Education Boards for rents were as follows : Auckland, £220 15s. ; Taranaki, £53 125.; Wanganui, £28; Wellington, £363 10s.; Hawke's Bay, 42; Marlborough, £26; Nelson, £13 10s.; Grey, £34 3s. 6d. ; North Canterbury, £16,45. ;Ot go, £12 6s. : total, £810 os. 6d,