E.—l.

North Canterbury, £2,552; South Canterbury, £785; Otago, £450 ; Southland, £481 13s. 3d. : total, £19,174 10s. lid. New Schools. —Auckland, £3,721 Is. sd. ; Taranaki, £215 13s. 9d. ; Wanganui, £2,350 15s. ; Wellington, £2,619 10s. ; Hawke's Bay, £3,012 10s. ; Marlborough, £613 16s. 9d.; Nelson, £98 25.; Grey, £302 13s. 2d.; Westland, £235; North Canterbury, £1,940 ; South Canterbury, £875 ; Otago, £2,258 ; Southland, £1,214 18s. 4d. : total, £19,457 os. sd. Finances of Education Boards. Table Fl is an abstract of the accounts of the receipts and expenditure of Education Boards for the year 1906. These are tabulated in detail on pages 6 and 7of the Appendix, and the annual reports of the several Boards, with their statements of receipts and expenditure, are also printed in the Appendix with full detail. Comparing the figures in Table Fl with those for the previous year, we find that the expenditure on teachers' salaries was £472,255 7s. lid., as against £426,343 19s. 6d. for 1905. Of this increase—nearly £46,000—part was due to the usual increase in the number of schools and in the average attendance ; but a very large proportion of the increase was caused by. the operation of " The Education Act Amendment Act, 1905 " (which came into force on the Ist January, 1906), which provided a general increase to the salaries of teachers, including pupil-teachers, and the same rate of salary for female teachers as for males. There has also been considerable increase in expenditure for secondary education at district high schools and for scholarships ; for training of teachers, due to the reorganization of the four training colleges under more liberal conditions ; for manual and technical instruction, due to the increase in the number of classes and in the attendance; and for school buildings, owing to increase of new settlements and additions required at existing schools. The percentage of the several Boards' income expended on administration (including in this term all the items which are included under that heading in Table Fl —viz., salaries of office staffs, Inspectors, Truant Officers, &c, and the ordinary office contingencies—but excluding the incidental expenses of schools) was as follows : North Canterbury, 3-4 (4-1) ; Auckland, 3-9 (4*3); Wellington, 4-0 (5*0); Wanganui, 4-1 (5-4) ; Hawke's Bay, 4-2 (4-2) ; Otago, 4-2 (4-9); Southland, 4-4 (5-7) ; South Canterbury, 4-8 (6-0) ; Taranaki, 5-4 (6-3) ; Nelson, 6-2 (6-2) ; Marlborough, 6-3 (7-7) ; Grey, 6-9 (8-3) ; Westland, 7-9 (10-3). The figures in brackets are last year's percentages. TABLE Fl.—Abstract of the Receipts and Expenditure of Education Boards, 1906. Receipts. £ s. d. Expenditure. £ s. d. Balance, Ist January, 1906 .. 20,923 7 1 Boards' administration .. .. 35,148 10 5 Rents from reserves .. £48,895 7 11 Teachers' and pupil-teachers' salaries, Balance of grants for and pupil-teachers'lodging-allowances 472,152 17 11 salaries of teachers and Incidental expenses of schools— pupil-teachers .. 424,483 16 8 Ordinary .. .. £37,731 6 5 Allowance at £250 and Capitation at 9d. .. 4,525 14 9 capitation .. .. 74,884 14 9 37,731 6 5 Other grants .. .. 20,366 8 6 Salaries of relieving-teachers .. .. 2,839 3 3 Scholarships and secondary education .. 33,002 13 1 Total for maintenance 568,630 7 10 Training of teachers .. .. .. 15,132 15 9 Scholarships and salaries Manual and technical instruction .. 36,239 12 8 of staffs of secondary Buildings, house allowances, sites, &c. .. 150,344 5 6 departments of distriot Befunds and sundries .. ~ 4 214 6 4 high schools .. .. 32,431 13 6 Balance, 31st December, 1906 .. .. 8 11 Manual and technical instruction .. .. 32,279 13 1 Buildings and teachers' house allowances . .. 172,075 15 5 Total from Government .. .. .. 805,417 9 10 Local receipts— Fees, donations, &o. .. 16,807 17 11 Interest, rents, &c. .. 1,667 16 3 18,475 14 2 Befunds, fines, &c. .. .. 1,064 9 2 £845,881 0 3 £845,881 0 3 It has been usual to consider separately the funds granted to the Boards for building purposes and those granted for general purposes, and to give separate summaries of the assets and liabilities on each account. Table F2 is a summary of the assets and liabilities on the General Account. It shows that the balances have increased by £6,852 (from £18,440 in 1905 to £25,292 in 1906)

xiii