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TARANAKI. Sir,— New Plymouth, 31st March, 1906. In accordance with the provisions of section 166 of " The Education Act, 1904," the Education Board of the District of Taranaki has the honour to submit the following report of its proceedings for the year 1905. The Board. —At the beginning of the year the Board was comprised of the following members : — E. G. Allsworth, Esq. (Chairman), Mrs. Jane R. Dougherty, Messrs. G. A. Adlam, Henry Faull, Arthur Morton, Joseph Mackay, M.A., D. H. McDonald, William Monkhouse, and James Wade. At the meeting of the Board held on the 19th January, 1905, Mr. E. G. Allsworth forwarded his resignation, which was accepted, and Mr. James Wade appointed Chairman. Mr. G. H. Maunder was elected to fill the vacancy on the Board. Messrs. Adlam, Monkhouse, and Wade retired in the terms of section 31 of the Act, and were re-elected. On the 25th October Mr. Joseph Mackay forwarded his resignation, which was accepted, and Mr. H. Trimble was elected to fill the vacancy on the Board. The Board held fifteen ordinary meetings and one special meeting. Schools and Teachers. —New schools have been opened at Kohuratahi and Makahu. There were seventy-six schools open at the end of the year, including the six half-time schools, and the number of teachers employed was 138, who were graded as follows : Sole teachers, 27 female and 20 male ; head-teachers, 5 female and 21 male ; assistants, 37 female and 8 male ; pupil-teachers, 17 female and 3 male. Maintenance Grant. —The Board is well satisfied with the basis upon which the maintenance grant is at present allocated, and recognises that the Department has dealt reasonably and fairly with applications for new schools and additions to existing schools. Capitation Grant.—The Board finds that the 11s. 3d. is inadequate to meet its departmental expenses, and hopes that the Minister will favourably consider that the cost of administration is dependent upon the distribution of the pupils in the district, rather than upon the number; and the preponderance of small schools, combined with the absence of large centres of population, renders the cost of administration per pupil particularly heavy in this and similar districts. Finance.—The receipts of the Board from all sources, including a balance of £314 4s. 10d. brought forward from 1904, amounted to £25,897 10s. 7d., while the expenditure was as follows : Administration, £1,614 16s. 6d. ; teachers' salaries and allowances, £16,380 13s. 9d. ; incidental expenses of schools, £1,349 14s. ; secondary education, £786 9s. 7d. ; manual and technical, £926 10s. 7d. ; buildings, £4,010 2s. 7d. ; leaving a balance of £1,084 lls. Id., against which are liabilities fully covering it. Buildings.—New schools have been erected at Makahu and Matiere, and the West End, Fitzroy, Mahoe, Salisbury Road, and Waitara Schools have been enlarged, and the Stratford District High School, which was seriously damaged by fire, has been reinstated. New latrines have been built at the Central, Courtenay Street, and West End Schools, and septic tanks at Stratford and West End. Drill. —In all schools physical exercises are taken daily, with a more extended period for instruction once a week. Military drill is taken at a number of schools, and companies are formed at the Central School, New Plymouth, Stratford, Inglewood, West End, Waitara, and detachments at Ngaire, Urenui, Okato, and Opunake. Manual Instruction. —Elementary handwork was undertaken at thirty-one schools, and sewing under the manual regulations in thirteen schools. ■ In addition to the above, manual work as defined by clauses 22 to 27 of the Regulations for Manual and Technical Instruction was recognised in twentyseven cases, the subjects embracing woodwork, botany, dairying, physiography, advanced needlework, ambulance, elementary agriculture, swimming, and life-saving. Technical Instruction. —Classes continue to be held at Stratford and New Plymouth, and are doing good work. During the year the Board applied for a Manual Training centre and Technical School for New Plymouth. The plans were approved, and a grant of £3,500 for a brick building has been notified. Training classes for teachers were held at Stratford and New Plymouth, the principal subject of instruction being agriculture, theoretical and practical. Conclusion. —The relations of the Board with the Education Department, its official and teaching staff, and with the School Committees have been most cordial and pleasant throughout the year. '~ I have, &c, James Wade, Chairman. The Hon. the Minister of Education, Wellington.