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and there seemed to be no sufficient reason, at least in this education district, where the retiring members have almost invariably been re-elected, to warrant the drastic change effected by the Act of last session. Meetings of the Board. —The Board has held twenty-four meetings during the year, the average attendance reaching the satisfactory figure of B'3. Primary Schools. —At the close of the year 1904 there were 114 schools open; of these a few household schools have been closed and others of the same kind opened. River Terrace School was made a side school to Brightwater ; Oparara School was closed in the middle of November, arrangements having been made for conveying the children to Karamea School, leaving 112 schools in operation at the end of the year. With respect to the. conveyance of children to school at the cost of the State, the Board has adopted the suggestion of the Department and consulted its solicitors as to its liability for damages in case of accident. The Board is advised that it is not responsible unless the accidents are due to " gross carelessness " on the part of its employee; but as it is impossible for the Board to insure that no person in charge of a boat, trap, or other conveyance taking children to or from school will ever be guilty of " gross carelessness," it is thought that it might be well for the Department to take such measures as would free the Board from this responsibility. Attendance of Scholars. —The slight increase in roll-number and attendance shown in the operations of 1904 has been maintained in the past year. The average roll-number in 1904 was 5 - 596, during last year it was 5607, the average attendance for the two years being respectively 4,71T75 and 4,830 p 75. The Board has found that the appointment of head and sole teachers as Truant Officers is working satisfactorily, and no cases of friction have been brought to the notice of the Board. Physical Instruction.—The returns show that physical instruction in some form is now given in every school in this education district. Cadet corps are established in connection with the schools at Nelson, Richmond, Wakefield, Motupiko, Motueka, Westport, Waimangaroa, Denniston, and Reefton. The corps at Westport and neighbourhood constitute a battalion. Buildings.—During the year the first wing of the Westport brick school has been erected, and the School Committee are now urging upon the Board the necessity of continuing the work, so that before long the whole design of ten rooms may be completed. The Coal Creek School has been removed to a more central position at Sedddonville, and enlarged by the addition of one room. An addition has been made also to Granity Creek School. The Motupipi School has been thoroughly renovated and enlarged, the older portion of the building having been taken away and the newer one added to at a cost of nearly £200. Most of these works have been assisted by special grants from the Department, and the Board desires to express its appreciation of the courtesy with which its applications have been received, and of the substantial help afforded the Board in carrying out these works. Superannuation.—The Board desires to congratulate the Department on the passing of the Teachers' Superannuation Act, which it believes will prove of great value to the cause of Education in New Zealand. The scheme may not be as perfect as could be wished, and in some cases appears to work an injustice ; but the Board is satisfied that the same wise statesmanship which initiated the scheme will ultimately succeed in removing all imperfections therefrom, and in placing an equitable and workable Act upon the statute-book. Meanwhile, it is hoped that the present Act will be administered with discrimination, and not be allowed to inflict hardship upon old and deserving servants of the public. Technical School. —During the year a technical school has been erected in Nelson, consisting of woodwork and plumbers' workrooms, a cookery room (used also for dressmaking), an art room, a room for architectural drawing and mechanical drawing, and two rooms for continuation classes. One session has been held, and the attendance tended to prove that the school supplied an actual need. The following is a list of the classes held, and the number of pupils on the roll of each : Mechanical drawing, 15 pupils ; architectural drawing, 19 ; woodwork, 26 ; dressmaking, 29 ; plumbing, 13 ; freehand drawing from casts and in light and shade, 36 ; modelling, 1 ; cookery, 18 ; woodcarving, 11 ; mathematics, 4. The above were all technical classes. The following continuation classes were also held : English, 33 pupils ; arithmetic, 33 ; shorthand, 33 ; book-keeping, 25. The following teachers' classes have been held in the Nelson Technical School or in connection therewith —viz., woodwork, cookery, vocal music, drawing, physiography, dressmaking. Teachers' classes in drawing of various kinds have been held at Westport and Reefton in modelling in plasticine, in drawing, and in brushwork. Handwork was taught in thirty-eight of the public schools of the district, including most of the larger ones. It is a matter for regret that no understanding has yet been arrived at to enable the Board to erect a building at Westport that would be suitable for both a school of mines and a technical school. Secondary Instruction. —The three district high schools in the Board's district continue their good work, but the past year has witnessed so serious a falling-off both in average roll number and average attendance that one is driven to the conclusion that the advantages of higher education are not yet realised by parents. Secondary Schools.—Westport: 1904 —Average roll, 60; average attendance, 44. 1905— Average roll, 44 ; average attendance, 32. Reefton : 1904—Average roll, 29 ; average attendance, 17. 1905—Average roll, 23 ; average attendance, 20. Motueka : 1904 —Average roll; 25 ; average attendance, 18. 1905—Average roll, 19 ; average attendance, 15. Finance. —At the beginning of the year the Board had a credit balance on the General Account of £65 2s. Id., and on the Building Account of £2,519 6s. 7d. The balance at the end of the year stood as follows: General Account, debit, £152 Bs. 3d.; Building Account, credit, £1,176 19s. sd. The statement of assets and liabilities shows that the General Account has liabilities over assets amounting to about £300; this amount represents some of the loss sustained by the Board in carrying on the three district high schools, through the withdrawal of the School Commissioners' grants for secondary