Appendix A.

E.—2.

It seems almost impossible for uncertificated teachers in our more remote schools to gain certificates while retaining these positions. The Board finds that young people desiring to enter the teaching profession are very unwilling to become probationers, preferring the position of pupil-teacher. The reason given invariably is that the pay of a probationer is too low. Most of those that become pupil-teachers have passed the Matriculation Examination, and are therefore classified as pupil-teachers of the third year, with a salary of £45 per annum, but a probationer of the same qualifications receives only £25 per annum. Scholarships. —For these helps to higher education there came forward in December sixtyfour competitors for the Junior and thirty-nine for the Senior. Six Senior and seven Junior Board Scholarships and two Junior National Scholarships were granted. The Barclay Memorial Prizes fell to pupils of Claremont, Cricklewood, Timaru Main, and Gapes' Valley schools. Attendance. —During the year the roll number, 6,041, increased by 114, and the average attendance, 5,352, by 139, as compared with the figures for 1912. As the mean average weekly roll was 5,925, the average attendance was 886 per cent, of this —slightly less than for 1912. In this connexion it has to be pointed out that the statement appearing on page 4 of the Department's annual report, E.-2, for 1912, is a mistake. A perusal of Table 82, page 27, of that report shows clearly enough that South Canterbury made some advance in average attendance, and the increase in roll number for that year was 174. The following table shows the attendance, in five yearly periods, at the schools of the district since the Boa,rd was established at the beginning of 1878 : —

* Strict average. Conveyance and Boarding of Pupils. —The amount paid for this purpose is steadily increasing. In 1908 the expenditure under this heading was £305 13s. 3d., and in 1913 £562 9s. 3d. During 1913, 123 children were conveyed to twenty-four different schools, and nineteen children were boarded out in order to be able to attend school. Visiting Schools. —During the year the Board adopted the policy of paying visits to various parts of the district, and members are quite satisfied that the policy is a wise one. They have seen for themselves the needs of different schools, and are better able to decide wisely on applications sent in by the Committees. It is hoped that during 1914 visits will be paid to the southern parts of the district, where some important questions are awaiting settlement. Amalgamation of Boards. —Last year this Board emphatically protested against the proposal of the Education Commission to reduce the number of education districts to five. This year the Board emphatically protests again, and for the same reasons as were urged last year. It is quite clear to the Board that increasing the size of a district does not necessarily mean increasing the efficiency of the educational machinery of the district. And surely it is possible to devise a system of control and promotion of teachers that will not require the setting-up of only four Boards in each Island. Rather than reduce the total number of Boards there might be an increase in their number, but the boundaries should be rearranged so that there might be as nearly as possible the same number of pupils under each Board. Manual and Technical Instruction. —[See E.-5, Report on Manual and Technical Education.] General. —The majority of the School Committees in the district have during the year given evidence of interest taken in the preservation of the buildings, in the improvement of the grounds, and in the well-being of the pupils. In this way the Board has been greatly aided in carrying on its work, and would thank the Committees for the services they have rendered. I have, &c., The Hon. the Minister of Education, Wellington.. J. S. Rcthbrpobd, Chairman.

OTAGO. Sm, Education Office, Dunedin, 31st March, 1914. In accordance with the provisions of section 174 of the Education Act, 1908, the Education Board of the District of Otago has the honour to present the following report of its proceedings for the year 1913 : — iii—B. 2 (App. a.)

XVII

Year. o o & H "g "S S3 S ■4H O M a d .2 S3 I I* Ri )11 Numb' u s h3 μ-s. i 1 I Yearly Average Attendance. Boys. Girls. 8 si. i— J Total. I 1878 .. 1883 .. 1888 .. 1893 .. 1898 .. 1903 .. 1908 .. 1912 .. 1913 .. 17 I 56 39 '. 95 50 ! 125 60 j 143 67 144 71 144 76 156 84 188 86 191 3,644 4,375 4,096 4,914 4,899 4,888 5,259 5,857 1,797 1,696 1,755 1,493 1,468 1,741 1,947 1,521 1,368 684 1,210 1,372 1,241 1,279 2,666 3,920 4,703 5,167 5,197 4,995 5,388 5,927 6,041 3,907 4,726 5,169 5,182 5,054 5,350 5,741 5,925 941 813 1,535 1,417 1,902 1,773 2,120 1,996 2,351 2,141 2,244 2,036 2,475 2,181 2,661 2,452 2,734 2,518 1,754 2,952 3,675 4,116* 4,492 4,280 4,656 5,113 5,252 75-0 77-7 79-6 86-7 84-7 87-0 89-1 88-6 *