E.—l

88

themselves for examination, to which number must be added the 1,074 children who, out of a roll of 1,233, were present as pupils in attendance at the private schools examined.'jlf is a matter for regret that the time spent in examining the private schools should have prevented the Inspectors from completing their inspection of the public schools—a feature which the Board will not be able to disregard should additional applications for the services of the Board's Inspectors be received. During the year the Board's attention has been drawn by School Committees to the absence in the examination reports of information in regard to the progress of pupils in classes below Standard VI. In the opinion of the Board the complaints in this connection are well founded, as it believes a mistake has been made in omitting from the examination schedules the information previously given in respect of the progress made by all the pupils. The Board also feels that this failure to record " passes "at the several stages below Standard VI will result in much inconvenience in later years, when no provision will exist for supplying the information on which employment in the public service often depends. In December, 1905, after a service of nineteen years, Dr. W. J. Anderson resigned his position as Inspector. The Board much regrets the loss of Dr. Anderson's services to this district, but congratulates him on having received the appointment of Assistant Inspector-General, to the discharge of whose duties the Board feels he brings ripe experience and proved enthusiasm in scholastic work. Scholarships.—The results of the Board's scholarship examinations, held at the Training College in the month of December, 1905, were as follows : In the Senior Scholarship competition 15 candidates presented themselves. There were 74 candidates for Junior Scholarships. Owing to the reduction made in the value of its scholarships, consequent upon holders of scholarships being entitled to free places, the Board has been able to largely increase the number of scholarships, 28 having been awarded instead of 18. The four National Scholarships allotted to the North Canterbury district were duly awarded. Under the regulations it was incumbent on the Board to reserve one scholarship for candidates entering from schools having a yearly average attendance of not more than 40, and one for candidates from schools above 40 but not more than 200. There were eight candidates for the two Gammack Scholarships. Manual and Technical Instruction. —Speaking generally, the interest in manual and technical instruction has been sustained during the year at the several centres where either associated or special classes are carried on. Towards the end of the year an associated board of managers was formed at Akaroa for the purpose of establishing technical classes. Early in the year a special committee was set up to consider whether it was practicable and desirable for the Board to carry on the Christchurch technical classes. The committee's report emphasized the necessity of appointing a Director, and recommended that another effort should be made to obtain the co-operation of the several local bodies, with the view of appointing a board of managers and raising annually by way of contribution and subsidy a sum sufficient to allow of the classes being continued on a more satisfactory basis. The action taken by the Board on the committee's recommendations and the personal representations made by Mr. Hight and Mr. Russell, the members of the Board who interviewed the local bodies interested, were entirely successful, and the classes were formally taken over by the new board of managers in November, 1905. The generous contribution made by the Christchurch City Council, the support of other local bodies, and the appointment of a Director to personally supervise and control the classes 'encourage the belief that technical instruction in Christchurch will shortly be developed on sound lines, providing valuable opportunities for apprentices to acquire a sound knowledge of the principles underlying their respective trades and occupations. In response to numerous requests, and after ascertaining that a large number of teachers were desirous of receiving instruction in the subject, the Board has recently agreed to the appointment of an instructor in agriculture, one of whose principal duties will be to conduct theoretical and practical classes. The matter will form the subject of further reference in the Board's report for this present year. District High Schools. —No additional district high schools have been constituted during the year 1905. Since the close of the year an application has been received for the school situated on the South Belt to be converted into a district high school, for which step, however, the Board has decided that the time is not ripe. The introduction of a fixed scale of staffs and salaries for teachers in secondary departments marks a great improvement on the old unsatisfactory method under which at the end of the year surplus salary moneys had to be divided among the members of the staff. The new regulations make no provision for grants for the apparatus required in the secondary departments. Cqrporal Punishment.—During the year a very important question was raised in connection with the administration of the Education Act—viz., whether in effect a teacher has the right to administer corporal punishment if the parent of the child concerned objects to such form of correction. In the opinion of the Board's solicitors, to whom the matter was referred, there is no room to doubt the power of a school-teacher to include corporal punishment as a part of the discipline of his school, and that the law will not interfere with him in the exercise of such power unless it be proved that he has exercised it unreasonably. It is the rule of the Board that all children attending its schools shall be subject to the discipline of the school which they attend. The Board has sufficient confidence in its teachers to leave, it to their discretion to determine when the administration of corporal punishment is necessary, and to believe that when they do find it necessary they will see that it is administered in a reasonable and proper manner. The Board has already notified its teachers that they will be expected to inflict corporal punishment with great care and moderation, and that undue severity or infringement of the rules laid down will render them liable to dismissal. Pupil-teachers.—The issue by the Education Department of new regulations for the empjoyment and examination of pupil-teachers made it necessary for the Board to materially alter its own regulations respecting pupil-teachers. For the future in the appointment of pupil-teachers preference must be given to those who have passed two years in a secondary school, or in the secondary classes of a district high school, or in the Seventh Standard of any other public school. There will be two general examinations for all pupil-teachers of the second and fourth years, called respectively the first and second examinations, and, in addition, all pupil-teachers of the first and third years will be required