E.—2.

[Appendix A.

officio member of each committee. The follow ing standing committees were elected : Buildings— Mr. Hardy, Mr. Banks, Mr. Rennie, Dr. Russell, Mr. Studholme ; Appointments — Mr. Adams, Mr. Andrews, Mr. Banks, Mr. Hardy, Mr. Opie; Normal School and Technical —Mr. Opie, Mr. Adams, Mr. Andrews, Mr. Reunie, Dr. Russell, Mr. Studholme. The Board held nineteen meetings during the year, including two special meetings ; the Buildings Committee met nineteen times, the Appointments Committee thirty-four times, while the Normal School and Technical College held sixteen meetings. The Board's Representatives.- —On the several Boards of Managers of Technical Classes the Board was represented as folloyvs : Christchurch —Mr. C. Id. Opie, Mr. H. Langford, Mr. T. S. Foster ; Banks Peninsula (Akaroa) —Mr. J. I). Bruce; Ashburton —Mr. W. H. Collins, Mr. J. Tucker; Kaiapoi— Mr. J. H. Blackwell, Mr. W. D. Bean. For Lyttelton and Rangiora no local Boards of Managers were elected, the work at Lyttelton during the year being confined to school classes, and in the case of Rangiora the control having been transferred to the Rangiora High School Board. Several changes took place as regards the Board's representatives on the several High School Boards. In the case of Akaroa, Mr. W. H. Montgomery having resigned. Mr. 11. W. Piper was elected in his stead, while Mr. R. Latter, the retiring member, was re-elected to fill the ordinary vacancy. Ashburton —Mr. W. B. Denshire and Mr. .1. Tucker were re-elected ; Rangiora —Mr. H. Boyd and Mr. A. S. Bruce continued to represent the Board until towards the close of the year, when Mr. E. R. Good was elected to fill the vacancy caused by the retirement of Mr. Bruce. Buildings. —The total expenditure under the heading of buildings during 1912, exclusive of cost on technical buildings, was £16,910 12s. Bd., made up as follows : Maintenance, £10,405 9s. 4d. (including architect's office expenses and salaries); replacing worn-out schools, £1,947 2s. Id.; new buildings, £2,745 9s. Bd. ; sites, £1,812 lis. 7d. New schools iiave been erected at Glen Kowhai, Scargill, and Te Pirita, and the unused school at Huntingdon has been removed to Lynnford (near Hinds). The building previously in use at Scargill is now used for school purposes at Leader (Mount Parnassus). In the following cases substantial additions to schools have been made : Burwood, Cashmere, Horsley Downs, Le Bon's Bay, Mead, Templeton, Sumner, Spreydon, and Woolston. In the latter case the new building takes the place of two large rooms erected many years ago, and no longer suitable for school purposes. A teacher's house has been provided at Puaha, and the residences at Gebbie's valley and Le Bon's Bay have been enlarged and improved. A large expenditure on repairs and improvements has also been incurred, notably in connexion with the following schools : Addington, Akaroa, Ashburton, Christchurch East, Hampstead, and Woolston. The Elmwood School being overcrowded, and the Board being of opinion that no further additions should be made, a site in the vicinity of Bligh's Road has been secured (or a new school, and the Department has been applied to for the necessary grant with which to proceed with the work. A new site has also been purchased in the Beckenham locality, where a new school will be required in the near future. A statement showing the amount spent in each school district is appended (Table No. 1) [table not reprinted]. The very large expenditure on maintenance, having regard to the sum granted by the Department for this purpose, is a matter for the Board's careful consideration. On the other hand, the expenditure on rebuilding was approximately £2,500 less than the amount provided by the Government for this purpose, Schools. —The number of schools in operation at the end of the year, including twenty-two aided schools, was 218, classified as follows : 1 to 8, five (all of which were aided schools) ; 9 to 15, twenty-five (of which seven were aided schools) ; 16 to 25, forty-nine (of which six were aided schools) ; 26 to 35, thirty-two (of which three were aided schools) ; 36 to 80, fifty-three (one of which—Midland Railway— was an aided school); 81 to 120, eighteen ; 121 to 160, eight; 161 to 200, two ; 201 to 250, five ; 251 to 300, four ; 301 to 350, three ; 351 to 400, one ; 401 to 450, one ; 451 to 500, three ; 501 to 550; one ; 551 to 600, one ; 601 to 650, four; above 650, three. The following table* shows the number of schools, the number of children on the rolls, the number in average attendance, and the percentage of attendance for each year since 1878. As was the case last year, in calculating the percentage of attendance the mean average roll number and the mean average attendance for the year have been taken.

School Staffs. —The number of teachers at the end of 1912 shows an increase of sixteen over the previous year, there being 635 teachers in the Board's service at that time. The number of

• Condrnsc-d into five-yearly periods from 1878 to 1903,

XVIII

Quarter ended 31st December. .878 .. .883 .. 888 .. 893 .. 898 .. .903 .. .904 .. 905 .. .906 .. 907 .. 908 .. 909 .. 910 .. 911 .. 912 .. District Schools. 106 139 155 175 186 183 184 187 189 192 195 196 194 193 196 Aided Total Schools. of Schools. 4 110 4 143 1 156 4 179 16 202 22 205 22 206 23 210 20 209 14 206 14 209 14 210 15 209 19 212 22 218 On Roll. ' 13,781 17,475 20,301 21,279 20,836 19,569 19,440 19,492 19,472 19,252 19,942 20,427 20,755 21,196 21.616 Average Attend- • p eroent ance. ° 9,641 69-96 12,844 73-50 15,920 78-41 17,543 82-44 17,580 84-37 16,227 82-92 16,712 85-97 16,923 86-82 16,876 86-67 16,232 84-31 17,536 87-94 17,634 86-33 18,063 87 03 18,847 88-99 19,205 88-85