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No. 3. REPORTS ON TRAINING COLLEGES IN OPERATION. Report of this Principal of the Training College, Auckland (Mr. H. A. Milnes, B.Sc). The year's work began on Monday, the sth March, and ended on Friday, the 30th November. Nineteen women and nine men were enrolled, all of whom signified their intention of taking the full two-years course. A viva voce examination revealed the following facts: Of the nineteen women, sixteen had matriculated, and two of these had kept one year's terms at the University. Of the nine men, six had matriculated. The matriculation certificate is by regulation a sine qua nan for admission, but, by special departmental concession, the six non-matriculated students were admitted. All the men had been pupil-teachers, but five of the women came direct from secondary schools and were admitted under Division B— i.e., they had had no experience as pupil-teachers. As nearly all the students had obtained full or partial D certificates, it was agreed that they should work with a view to taking the examination for the C certificate; some of the subjects to. be taken at the end of the first year, and the rest at the end of the second year, thus avoiding any undue strain. Eight of the more advanced students wished, in addition, to keep terms at the University with a view to taking a degree. This was allowed tentatively; but the dual work thus thrown on students is too much for any but the exceptionally strong ones, and permission another year should be granted more cautiously. In order to get school practice, and yet not interfere seriously with the course of studies, it was decided that two weeks each term — i.e., six weeks a year—be devoted to actual school-teaching under supervision. It is obvious that this is not enough (though it is twice the amount given in English colleges), and yet an increase in the time devoted to school practice would so curtail the time devoted to studies that continuity in the lectures would be made impossible and a University course rendered out of the question. The only remedy seems to be an entire reorganization of the scheme of training. Instead of trying to do two things at onee —to teach and show how to teach— the work of a proper training college should be devoted entirely to showing how best to teach, the acquirement of knowledge being ft preliminary to this. If students were admitted to the training colleges with sufficient knowledge of the subjects to be taught in school, and if the whole of their time in college were devoted to the theory and practice of education—to the how-to-teach; to dexterity on the blackboard, &c. —they would learn more in three months about school-management than they do now in two years. With the excellent scheme ,>f scholarships from the primary to the secondary schools a sufficient supply of such students should be forthcoming to pass from the secondary schools at eighteen or nineteen years of age into the training colleges for one year, and then out into the schools for probation and final testing before they become certificated teachers. From careful observation of the five students admitted under Division B, I am convinced that, with reasonable selection as to fitness, a course like the one indicated would give us much more " live " teachers than the rule-of-thumb pupil-teacher training at present in force. The course adopted for the practical training of the students aims at giving them a thorough knowledge of the work of the different standards. They watch the class-teachers at work, prepare lessons themselves and give them under supervision, and discuss the success or failure afterwards. Criticism lessons are held weekly, each student in turn giving a lesson before the rest of the students, the merits or demerits being gone into fully at the end. Visits of observation are paid to other schools, and the teachers are watched at work. A student who has been attached to Standard 111 for training will watch the work in Standard 111 .at the school visited. So tar, visits have been paid to Mount Eden, Ponsonby, Devonport, Richmond Road, and Newton West Schools, and I should like to thank the masters of those schools for their courteous co-operation. lii order to give the students a wider outlook, and also to provide accurate knowledge for use in school, visits of observation have been paid from time to time to places of interest. So far, the following visits have been made: (1) H.M.S. "Powerful"; (2) the Blind Institute, Parnell; (3) the sugar-works, Chelsea; (4) " The Light of the World," painting by Holman Hunt; (5) the ostrich-farm, Pukekohe; (6) the Museum and Art Gallery; (7) Bostock's menagerie; (8) Auckland gasworks; (9) the Northern Flour-mills; (10) Bycroft's biscuit-factory; (11) the ferro-concrete works ; (12) the Graphic printing-works. Geographical visits have also been paid to the tops of Mount Eden, One-tree Hill, Mangere Mount, and Mount Wellington, and maps of the surrounding district have been prepared. The choice of subjects for C certificate is very varied, but I would like to see three things made compulsory for all students in training—first, swimming and life-saving; second, "first aid"; third, rifle shooting for men. ' In a country where " so much of the land is water " the first is a necessity ; when one remembers that the teacher in the backblocks is often the only approach to a doctor for twenty miles, the second —a simple corollary to physiology, which is already compulsory— is also a necessity; and the third is excellent hand and eye training even if we do not agree about its necessity. The addition of these subjects would not be felt, and there is little question as to their utility. Weekly tests have been given on the work taken in lectures, and the following table shows the year's result:—[List omitted from reprint.] The Principal's prizes have been won as follows: First prize, books value £2, Mr. H. Binsted; second prize, books value £1, Mr. F. It. Wilson; third prize, books value £1, Miss F. J. Taylor: fourth prize, books value 10s., Miss M. R. Scott; fifth prize, books value 10s., Miss E. C. Collins. Six of the eight students who attempted to keep terms succeeded, the successful ones being Miss Taylor, Miss Seddon, Miss Collins; Mr. Masefield, Mr. A. Webster, Mr. H. E. Webster. Of these, Miss Collins and Mr. A. Webster kept terms for the second year,* and also sat for the first part of their degree, the result of which is not yet known. Miss Taylor did exceptionally well, passing in the first class in three subjects.