£.-- •>.

[Appendix A

of members of Education Boards and to establish School Boards. In the opinion of the Board the election of members on the basis of adult suffrage would involve enormous expenditure, quite disproportionate to any advantages that might be gained; while the Board also holds that the present method of control of schools by individual Committees is preferable to the establishment of School Boards, in whom the control of a number of schools would be vested. Manual and Technical Instruction and Agriculture. —[See E.-5, Report on Manual and Technical Instruction.] Teachers' Glasses. —During the year classes in woodwork, cookery, agriculture, &c, were carried on for the benefit of teachers, and bi-weekly classes in physiology were also established for pupil-teachers and probationers who previously had little or no opportunity of complying with the requirements as regards the practical work in this subject. Correspondence classes for uncertificated teachers in charge of outlying schools have also been conducted. District High Schools. —[See E.—6, Report on Secondary Education.] Staffing of Schools. —The Board desires to draw the Minister's attention to the need of better provision being made for the staffing of schools with rising averages. Visits of Teachers to other Countries. —The Board commends to the Minister's favourable consideration the desirability of giving effect to some proposal whereby either an Inspector or a teacher shall be periodically given a year's leave on full pay for the purpose of studying schemes of national education in force in other parts of the world, provided that such recognition is given for distinguished service. Conveyance of Children to School. —The system under which the Department pays for the conveyance of children to school when the distance is over three miles has been largely availed of during the year, the expenditure by the Board under this head amounting to £970 11s. 6d. The Board has on two occasions directed the Minister's attention to the need of some modification in the regulations, in order that in deserving cases the parents of children who live the prescribed distance and who ride to school may be entitled to the grant. I have, &c., The Hon. the Minister of Education, Wellington. T. W. Adams, Chairman.

SOUTH CANTERBURY. Sic, — Education Office, Timaru, March, 1914. I have the honour, in accordance with the provisions of section 174 of the Education Act, 1908, to submit the annual report of the Education Board of the District of South Canterbury for the year ending 31st December, 1913. The Board. —At the beginning of the year the Board consisted of the following members : Messrs. W. M. Hamilton (Chairman), G. W. Armitage, C. S. Howard, W. Lindsay, George Lyall, John Maze, J. S. Rutherford, G. J. Sealey, and Thomas Sherratt. Messrs. Rutherford and Sealey, whose term of office expired in August, were re-elected unopposed, while Mr. Hamilton was re-elected by a majority of nineteen over his opponent, Mr. John Black. In January Mr. Hamilton was granted leave of absence to visit Great Britain and Europe, and Mr. J. S. Rutherford was made Acting-Chairman until the annual meeting of the Board in August. At that meeting Mr. Rutherford was elected Chairman for the ensuing year. During the year the Board held twenty meetings, with an average attendance of 76. Officers. —In April Mr. A. Bell, M.A., who had since 1899 been one of the Board's officers, to the great regret of all concerned, tendered his resignation as Secretary and Assistant Inspector. Mr. Bell had carried out his duties with marked ability and great tact, and the Board placed on record its sense of the loss sustained by his departure to take up the office of Secretary of the Southland Education Board. Mr. J. A. Valentine, 8.A., for so many years headmaster of the Timaru South School, was appointed successor to Mr. Bell. The Schools'. —At the end of the year there were at work in this district eighty-six schools. The new school at Monavale was opened in February, and in October a new school was opened at Timaunga in a room rented from one of the settlers. The secondary departments of the three District High Schools showed an average 'attendance for the year thus : Waimate, 56; Temuka, 33; Pleasant Point, 17. Buildings. —The close of 1913 saw the Board carrying out its busiest building programme since its formation. The Department treated various applications by the Board with the greatest possible consideration, and made grants*for new schools at Timaru West and Timaunga, for additions at Temuka, Waimataitai, Washdyke, and St. Andrew's, and for residences at Pleasant Point and Orari Gorge. This meant a total expenditure of about £6,000, and is convincing evidence of the development taking place in South Canterbury. It seems to be quite certain that in the near future extensive repairs will have to be made to several of our older wooden buildings. In some cases they have been erected for over forty years, and are beginning to show evident signs of decay. In its recently erected schoolrooms the Board is installing slowcombustion stoves of a type specially recommended by the Education authorities in other districts. There is every reason to believe that this method of heating should prove much more effective than the open fireplace is. Teachers. —On the 31st December there were in the Board's services 191 teachers, of whom 155 were adult teachers, 25 were pupil-teachers, and 11 were probationers. The 155 teachers were in positions thus: Head teachers, 26; sole teachers, 60; assistants, 69. Of the adult teachers, twenty-five were uncertificated. Some of these are doing very fine work in their schools. Most of them made some effort to improve their status as teachers, though some seem content to stand still. There is no doubt that some who are desirous of obtaining a certificate find that the Department's demand for practical work in certain compulsory subjects is a great difficulty.

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