E.—ls

15

comparatively large amount spent on primary-school buildings, £121,000, is due to two causes —first, most of the schools are of wood, and cost nearly twice as much for maintenance as if they were of brick*or stone ; secondly, the amount, £49,000 (including Native schools), spent on new buildings and additions is, again, an element in the progress of settlement of the country. Taking all these facts into consideration the wonder is, not that our expenditure per head for primary education is so high compared with that in Switzerland, but that it is not much higher. The total public expenditure on primary education, per head of population, in the several parts of the United Kingdom is as follows : England and Wales, 12s. 3d., average number in a school, 294 ; London, 175., average number in a school, 803 ; Wales alone, 15s. 5d., average number in a school, 239 ; Scotland, 12s. 4d.; Ireland, 6s. 7d. Table C shows the proportion ,per cent, of the total expenditure on each of the four branches of education in Switzerland and New Zealand respectively. Table C. —Proportions per Cent, of Public Money spent on the several Branches of Education in Switzerland and New Zealand respectively (calculated from Tables Bl and B2). Switzerland. New Zealand. I. Primary .. .. .. .. •• 61-7 81-5 11. Secondary .. .. .. •. 15-5 7-7 111. Continuation and Technical .. .. 13-8 61 IV. Higher 90 4-7 The former country spends upon each of the branches other than primary about twice as large a proportion as is spent in New Zealand. If we wish to bring our standard up to that of the Swiss republic, we must, in short, be prepared to spend far larger sums on secondary, technical, and higher education than we are spending now, and at the same time not curtail, but rather increase, our expenditure upon primary education. As special reference has already been made to education in the Canton of Geneva, it may be of interest to note that the total expenditure out of public funds on education was, in 1906, £197,000, or £1 6s. 3d. per head of the population —namely, for buildings £52,000, or 6s. lid. per head ; and for all other purposes £145,000, or 19s. 4d. per head. Only £10,000 out of the total consisted of grants from the Federal Government, the remainder being provided by the canton and the communes (£131,000 and £56,000 respectively). (The largeness of the amount spent on buildings was occasioned by the erection of several new university buildings and of one or two large primary schools in Geneva.)

Table D1.—Expenditure out of Public Funds per Head of Average Roll for the Various Branches of Education. Switzerland (1905).

Note.—Expenditure on buildings in Tables Dl and D 2 includes the cost of repairs and rebuilding as well as the cost of new buildings and additions, so far as any of these are provided out of public funds.

Cost per Pupil. Buildings. Other Expenses. Total. I. Primary II. Secondary III. Technical, &c. IV. Higher £ 8. d. 0 2 4 0 7 8 0 3 10 2 18 8 £ s. a. 2 17 9 5 8 10 3 5 2 21 5 2 £ s. d. 3 0 1 5 16 6 3 9 0 24 3 10 All branohes except primary 0 8 1 5 0 11 5 9 0 All branohes 0 3 10 3 8 8 3 12 6 Tab: LE D2. New Zeal land (1906). Cost per Pupil. Buildings. Other Expenses, Total. I. Primary II. Secondary III. Technical, &c. .. IV. Higher £ e. d. 0 17 1 10 2 13 4 15 12 6 £ s. d, 4 2 10 7 12 5 1 16 8 14 2 9 £ b. (1. 4 19 11 8 12 7 3 0 0 29 15 3 All branohes except p'rimary 1 17 3 4 0 0 5 17 3 All branches 10 3 4 2 5 5 2 8