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dental to a transition stage in the history of method, but with further experience of the work there will come the desired change of view-point, when it will be found that not only is such teaching possible, but natural, easy, and interesting. The view of primary education towards which we appear to be tending is that the school is all in all, individual subjects and individual pupils being, by comparison, of secondary importance. If the school is good there need be no undue solicitude on the part of educational authorities or the public as to the subjects or pupils. The standing of the school, again, depends on the character of the teacher, his qualificationa, efforts, and influence. Within the school the pupil's activities—physical, aesthetic, intellectual, and moral—would have free play, the whole being by the teacher directed towards useful and worthy ends. The care of each subject and each pupil is cast upon the teacher, whose part it is, on the one hand, to see that the best methods are employed and the fullest advantage taken of each pupil's bent and disposition, and, on the other, to see that the corporate life of the school lends itself at once to the development of pure minds and robust bodies. Moreover, the teacher'a mission should transcend the limits of the present. He should see in each child, from his first appearance at school, the coming pupil of the upper standarda—the district high school, technical school, secondary school, or university; nay, more, he should see in him the coming citizen —the artisan, farmer, business or professional man. He should accordingly- watch over his preparation, not for this or that standard, but for all that lies before him. On this view the subjects of instruction would not be regarded as ends in themselves, but chiefly as a means of developing alert and open minds. A child should not, for instance, be required to make an elaborate study of the words and expressions in his reader : his studies in other directions ahould enable him to bring to auch work both knowledge and interpretive skill. If the teacher takes full advantage of the unifying principle of correlation he will find that the different subjects of instruction will, so to speak, find their own way home The work of examination is passing more and more into the hands of the teachers, who generally perform it with discretion. The Inspector is thus set free for work of a more important description, such as an investigation of the teacher's methods, an inquiry' into the general content of the pupils' minds and their ability to deal intelligently with any new problems which present themselves. It may occasionally be desirable or even necessary for the Inspector to examine an entire class in a subject or series of subjects, but such procedure is becoming the exception rather than the rule. The chief object an Inspector has in view when visiting a school is to discover whether the children in it are taking the initial steps of the educative process in an approved way, to discover in short whether hand, and eye, and brain are so trained that the pupils will become efficient citizena, and feeling, intellect, and w-ill so trained that they will become thoughtful and honourable men and women. The Board promotes the cause of education not alone by eatablishing schools and seeing that all schools are properly staffed, equipped, and administered, but also by taking other less obvious though none the less effective measures. In June last a winter school was held for the benefit of uncertificated teachers and teachers of remote schoola. In July obaervation schools were established at convenient centres, to which any teacher desirous of improvement in method or management might resort. In October a highly succesaful exhibition of school-work was held at Palmerston North. The travelling scholarships were not awarded, but it is the Board's intention to make the awards annually hereafter. Instruction-classes for pupil-teachers and teachers were held at Palmerston North, Marton, Wanganui, and Hawera, the teachers taking drawing and agriculture. Next July a number of certificated teachers will, iu accordance with arrangements made by the Board, proceed for three weeks to the training college, with the view of studying recent developments in primary-school work. Another factor contributing greatly to the efficiency of the schools is the very liberal allowance of material and apparatus granted by the Board. Used by capable teachers the apparatus supplied is in itself sufficient to introduce the pupils to scientific methods of investigation. The Inspectors have endeavoured to contribute something to the general weal of education by meeting the teachers collectively and talking over matters appertaining to the theory or practice of teaching. The pupil-teachers are trained partly at their own schools and partly at central classes. The central classes having been established for a year only, one can hardly expresa a definite opinion aa to the merits of the arrangement. So far as the teaching of drawing and science is concerned there cannot be two opinioiia, for it ia happily poasible to secure highly trained instructors in these subjects at all centres. It appears that only four of the candidates have attended a secondary school. This is a matter for extreme regret, for if there is any sphere where it is desirable to have the best that the secondary school can give, it is the schoolroom. Were free places awarded on a more liberal scale in the district it is reasonable to suppose that we should have a greater number of applicants with the desired training. The results of the examination of the secondary classes at the district high schools, notwithstanding the extreme difficulty of the special asaistanta' work, ahow a great deal of ground has been covered for the most part in a very satisfactory manner. In a few months laboratories will be at the diaposal of the secondary pupils at Feilding, Marton, and Eltham, so that at each of our five district high schools it will be possible to make the course of instruction not merely liberal, but in the best senae modern. Compared with 1905 the average roll for 1906 has increased by seventeen; a much greater percentage of district high school Sixth Standard pupils joined the secondary classes ; twenty more pupils came from the schools aurrounding diatrict high schools ; a greater proportion of pupils remained for a second year's tuition in the secondary classes. All this affords elements of hope, but the fact remains that of the pupils joining the aecondary classea at the beginning of the year over half dropped out either during the year or at its close. Regarding the school handwork classes, Mr. Varney reports as follows : " That much progress has been made in this very important branch of education ia evident from the fact that, whilst in 1905 recognised classes were conducted in eighty-nine schools, in 1906 no fewer than 120 schools earned capitation under the Manual and Technical Regulations."