B. K. MULGAN.]

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Junior Civil Service Examination, why not give him the salary of a pupil-teacher of the second year? The pupil-teacher has to do more work of a kind, but I do not know that he has to do more work in the aggregate. The probationer is supposed to do and does actual teaching for three hours a day, but he is not supposed to be idling for the other two hours of the day. He is supposed to be observing or doing preparation-work. There is just one other subject, and I have finished. Something was said this morning about examinations, and I was delighted to hear the Inspector-General express himself as he did. I think Mr. Kirk asked if there were not too many examinations in New Zealand. I have no hesitation in saying that I believe we are an overexamined community. Our children are examined, so to speak, from the cradle to the grave. All the way through the primary schools the}' are examined, and at the end of the primary-school course they are examined by an Inspector, and get a proficiency certificate. They are examined when they get into the secondary schools. At the end of the year, following each other by a period of only a few days, we have the Junior Civil Service Examination, the Matriculation Examination, and, a year or two ago, the Board Senior Scholarship Examination —that fortunately has been done away with —and the Term Examination. All these examinations come one on top of the other, and some of them are entered for by the same pupils. 5. Have you not exactly the same thing running through your University course —overexamination? —Yes. What is the result of all this? The real objects of education tend to be lost sight of by the pupil, the teacher, and the public; and the tendency is to consider the examination as the end of education. An examination, I need hardly say, is an extremely useful thing. You cannot do without tests of some kind. They are useful to teachers in order to enable them to take stock of what has been done, and to the pupils also; but if they are overapplied, then the drawbacks are very serious. I cannot help feeling that we are being overexamined, and I think it is very likely that in some districts in New Zealand there is too much examining going on so far as the primary schools are concerned. I think lam right in saying the Department has discouraged this overexamination of primary schools. But there is a great temptation to examine. It is very much easier to go into a primary school and set certain questions in arithmetic or composition, and test the pupils in that way, than it is to go into a school and take a class or lesson in arithmetic, and judge of the efficiency of the teaching by the way in which that class deals with the problems and matter put before them. It is in some such way as that that the examination of our public schools should be conducted in the future. 6. Mr. Pirani.] In regard to the Auckland Board, can you explain why it is necessary, if you have a promotion scheme with all the teachers classified, to call for applications for vacancies? Does that not block the back-country people who do not see the invitation to apply from getting a chance to do so?—lt is done for one reason. I may say we have not tried any other plan, but we feel that if we did not advertise, then we would not know what teachers wished to be appointed to what schools. Suppose the Blur Spur School were vacant, there might be a number of teachers on our books eligible, but we might appoint a man who did not want to go. 7. Would not the fairest system be to start at the top and go down the list until you got a teacher who would go? —I think that is the fairest system, but I feel we would be a long time in filling our appointments. We have a great number to fill. In regard to what you said about out-back teachers, we allow teachers to apply by wire, and we allow a sufficient time to elapse to enable the teachers to be notified by newspaper advertisement of the vacancy. 8. Do you send to the Committees the name of one teacher, or four names, as required by the Act? —One only. 9. The Chairman .] Is there no objection on the part of School Committees to the adoption of this scheme? —Quite a number of School Committees have objected, but, on the whole, they are satisfied with what we are doing. 10. The larger proportion are satisfied ?—Yes. 11. Mr. Pirani. ,] How do you find the classification work out in actual practice? Do you think you get very nearly the abilities and qualifications of a teacher under the classification scheme?—lt has been in operation here for nearly three years, and, so far as I am able to judge, we do. The Inspectors are satisfied, and the Committees are satisfied, and the teachers are absolutely satisfied. 12. What provision have you got in your system for teachers objecting to their classification? How does he know of the classification ?—He has a copy of his own marks forwarded to him. 13. What provision is there for objecting?— His letter of objection comes in, and it is considered by the Inspectors and by the Board of Education. 14. Have you any provision for reducing the classification of a teacher if he turns out not to be as efficient as you thought he was? —Not from one period of grading to another. 15. Would you reduce if you found a teacher was not up to the standard you thought?— Undoubtedly. The grading of each teacher is reconsidered every two years, and the name of that teacher would come up again and would be considered. If we had any new light as to his efficiency or want of efficiency, we would give effect to it. 16. In regard to the term examinations by teachers, you think perhaps we could do away with one of these; but is it not to an enormous extent at the discretion of the teacher whether he makes it a set examination in every subject or not?— That is quite true to a very large extent, but he is obliged to make it a set examination, inasmuch as he is asked to assign marks to each pupil. 17. Take, for instance, reading and writing : ought not a teacher to know what the qualifications of most of the pupils are if the work has been done regularly, without having a set examination? —The class teacher might do that, and then it becomes a question as to whether the head teacher should acept the opinion of the class teacher in an important subject of that kind or not. 18. Is it the custom in your district for the head teacher to make individual examinations of every class? —Yes,