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it (lie committee had twelve months to consider the subject, they gould produce something worthy of such a Conference as the present one. As he understood from Mr. Petrie that he would not be able to act, he would suggest that Mr. Goyen be appointed in his place. Mr. Goyen.— lt is rather a big order. Mr. Strachan.—l suggest that Mr. Braik be appointed a member of the committee. Mr. Bevan-Brown asked (hat his name be left off the committee. He would have to vote against the motion. The Conference had met to give each other hints, and it was for the Education Department and the Inspectors ami primary-school masters afterwards to draw up their own syllabus. He would not like to have a hand in drawing up a syllabus for the primary schools, and he would resent the primary-school masters drawing up a syllabus for the secondary schools. Dr. Anderson said he was unable to support Mr. Strachan's motion. The Department had a large amount of information from various quarters of the'globe. It was not lack of information they suffered from, but from various other things. It was not particularly difficult to determine what should be included in the primary course of instruction. Briefly, there should be the mother-tongue —including on the one hand reading and the art of interpretation, and on the other hand the art of expression—and that would also include drawing. Arithmetic, from its practical utility, must, of course, have its place, and there must also be cultivation of the observation by means of practice in scientific methods. But the difficulty was a very real one when they came to the relation between the primary and the secondary school. Mr. Howell had touched upon a point that had been long more or less in his own mind—namely, that they ought to study a little more closely how far they might adjust tho work of the primary schools to meet the needs of the secondary schools. The primary-school system was for the bulk of the pupils. The smaller number of children who went from the primary to the secondary school might require a very different treatment. It might not l>e possible to give that different treatment in the primary school, and ihe only course then would be to take the pupils at an earlier stage, leaving those who wanted to finish with the primary school to remain there. That, to his mind, was the point of real importance to which special attention was needed. But, so far as the primary-school course in itself was concerned, they knew enough about that. With reference to grammar, he was strongly of opinion that the art of expression was the main feature of the work to be done in the primary school. Grammar was the science of language. Composition was its correlative art; and grammar had no place, to his mind, in the primary-school course, except as a handmaid to composition. But what was done in that way should be done effectively. There should be no grammar except what had a direct bearing upon the mother-tongue, and the amount of that was not great. The secondary-school masters need not be shocked at young people who came to them with a certain amount of power of expression and cultivated intelligence if there was a certain amount of ignorance of certain grammatical terms, such as had been referred to. When the secondary school met with these initial difficulties in the study of another language it was its duty to provide for them. What was essential for the elementary study of Latin, but not essential for the elementary study of English, was not within the province of the primary school. The motion was negatived on the voices. The relation of Primary Schools to Secondary and Technical Education. The Chairman said the next question for consideration was " The relation of primary schools to secondary and technical education." This was an extremely important subject, and he hoped it would be fully discussed from every point of view. He would indicate what some of the questions involved were. A very large proportion of the pupils of the secondary schools consisted of free pupils. The conditions of entrance to a free place in a secondary or technical school were threefold, or, rather, the doors were three in number: (1) All holders of scholarships—Board or other scholarships —were entitled to free places; (2) all who qualified for scholarships, and all who qualified in a special examination held by the Department for free places, were entitled to free places; and (3) all who got certificates of proficiency, and who were not over fifteen years of age at time of entrance, were entitled to free places. The Inspectors of the Department from time to time inspected the secondary schools at which these pupils were admitted. In some places the authorities had expressed the opinion that a good many of those who had entered were not fitted for the secondary education of the kind obtained at the secondary school. He was not referring particularly to secondary schools. The same thing was true to a certain extent of district high echoole, but there was a' qualification there which he would refer to presently. In the case of secondary schools that opinion had been expressed, and he was bound to admit that to a certain extent —in view of certain facts that came l>eiore the Inspectors of the Department—there was a Dumber of individuals —a certain proportion only —in regard to whom that statement as to unfitness for secondary education seemed to have some foundation in fact. The question resolved itself into this: as to whether the third door of admission —he did not think there was any question as to the other two doors—whether that third door of admission by means of a proficiency certificate might not be so wide as to admit some who really were not fitted for the form of secondary educalion that was given, and should be given, in our secondary schools. That was one of the questions that might be discussed by the Conference. There were two ways of altering the conditions. One way had been suggested by a leading headmaster of a secondary school —a man who had a good deal of experience. He (the Chairman) would not say whether lie approved of the suggestion or not —he did not wish to express an opinion upon it; but the solution that had been suggested was certainly worthy of consideration : the suggestion was that that door should be absolutely closed, and only those admitted to free places who should qualify in a special examination. To that the objection lias been made that if they did not take care they would have a very considerable portion of the year of the boy or girl in the Sixtli Standard taken up by preparation for that examination. Another proposal made in one quarter was that the certificate of proficiency examination should

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