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8.—5

Agricultural Education and Nature-study. —During the year the Board decided to initiate the scheme of agricultural education submitted by me in May, 1904. According to this scheme, the foundation of agricultural education was to be laid in the primary schools in the form of "nature-study," in which school gardens would be a leading feature. The Board decided to advertise in England, in Canada, and in the colony for an instructor who would be able to conduct courses of instruction in nature-study for teachers who would, in turn, introduce the work into their own schools. The salary offered was £400 per annum, and of the thirty-seven applicants, Mr. Vincent W. Jackson, 8.A., of the Ontario Agricultural College, Guelph, was selected. Mr. Jackson is due to arrive here shortly, when he will commence work by giving instruction to teachers at approved centres. I look upon the introduction of this branch of education as being one of the most important movements that has taken place during my stay in the colony, and one that will, lam sure, be fraught with far-reaching results. The Board is to be heartily congratulated'on having taken this step. The exhibition of handwork done by pupils attending the manual-training and primary schools, and of work done in the various evening technical classes, was again held at the Auckland Technical School at the beginning of the present year. The exhibition, which was opened by His Excellency the Governor of New Zealand, Lord Plunket, created even more interest than the previous one. As I have previously mentioned, I am convinced that these exhibitions have done a great deal to educate the public as to the kind of work that is being done in our technical and manual-training schools. A summer school was held in Auckland in January of this year. The school, which was under the direction of the Board's art specialists, Messrs. Harry Wallace and F. C. J. Cockburn, assisted by Miss Eleanor Kendon and Mr. H. Bruce Wallace, was open for a fortnight for teachers living in the backblocks, who could not otherwise get the advantage of instruction in freehand, blackboard, model, and brush drawing. Upwards of 160 teachers were in attendance, and their enthusiasm and regularity of attendance resulted in excellent work being done. Auckland Technical School. As in previous years, the work was carried out under very great difficulties. In addition to the hired building in Rutland Street, the Newton Manual-training School, a portion of the Wellesley Street public school, and the machine-shop and smithy were utilised for evening technical classes. Even under these circumstances, it was impossible to find accommodation for all the students applying for admission, nearly two hundred being turned away. At the beginning of last session a most important decision was come to by the Board regarding the admission of students to the Technical School. It was resolved that no student should be admitted who had not passed the Sixth Standard of a public school, or some' equivalent examination, except in the case of students over twenty-one years of age. The reason for this step was that previously a considerable number of students had attended the school whose elementary education was not sufficiently advanced to allow them to profit by the instruction provided. In order that no hardship should be inflicted upon any students by permanently keeping them out of the school, evening continuation classes were established at the Newmarket, Ponsonby, and Wellesley Street Public Schools, at which such students could attend and receive an education equivalent to that obtained in the Sixth Standard of a public school. Except at Newmarket, where only four students enrolled, these classes proved a great success, and at the end of the year, at the examination held by the Chief Inspector of Schools, sixteen obtained Standard VI certificates of proficiency, and seven certificates of competency. It is now possible in Auckland for all boys and girls, no matter how defective their education may be, to attend evening classes, which will eventually qualify them to attend the Technical School for a period of five years free of charge. In June and July last a considerable number of our students sat for the Examinations of the City and Guilds of London Institute, and of the London Board of Education. The total number of passes in both examinations was 142, as against 108 for the previous year. The plumbing students were again very successful—in fact, a larger number of passes were obtained by the Auckland Technical School than by any of the large technical schools in London. One student passed with first-class honours, and was awarded the Full Technological Certificate in Plumbers' Work. This certificate is considered to be the highest that can be obtained in plumbing, and it is the first that has ever been gained by an Auckland student. In model and freehand drawing examinations, the teachers of the public schools made an excellent show. These examinations are now of a very high standard, and seeing that the teachers only received a year's preparation for them of one evening per week the result reflects the highest credit upon students and instructor alike. The following is a brief account of each department of the school: — Building Trades Department. —The work done in this department was again very successful. Instruction was given in building-construction, carpentry and joinery, practical mathematics, drawing for carpenters, and practical geometry. It is gratifying to note that, with one exception, the whole of the students who passed the first year's course entered for the second. The majority of the new students also entered for the full course. The carpentry and joinery, particularly of the second-year students, calls for special comment, and the Board is to be congratulated on having such a successful teacher as Mr. Trendall for this important subject. The buildingconstruction classes were also very successful, two students having obtained first classes in the advanced stage of the London Board of Education Examination. For the diploma in carpentry and joinery, six students were successful in the first year's course, and four in the second. Cabinetmaking Department. —The subjects taught in this department were theory and practice of carpentry, drawing for cabinetmakers, practical mathematics, perspective, practical geometry, elementary design, and principles of ornament. As in previous years, the number of students actually engaged in cabinetmaking who attended the classes was very small, the majority being in attendance to learn "woodwork for amateurs" rather than cabinetmaking. For the diploma in cabinetmaking, one student obtained the first year's certificate, and two the second.