E.—2.

[Appendix G.

Under pressure of the large amount of work to be carried out elsewhere it has not yet been possible with the limited staff available to make full provision for the instruction of the students at the training colleges ; but the matter has not been neglected, and in each case temporary arrangements of a sufficiently satisfactory character have been made. 'Up to date (July, 1914) over 2,200 teachers (out of the total number of 4,300) have been trained ; the system has been introduced into 1,172 schools, and the work in 531 of these schools has been inspected. The visits of inspection have been made more for the purpose of assisting the teachers to establish the work properly than for critical inspection. The expenditure on physical education for the year ending the 31st March, 1914, was as follows : Salaries of Director and instructors, £2,857 ; training classes, including camps, for teachers, £3,132 ; equipment for training classes, £212; travelling allowances and expenses, £1,455; sundries, including books, officecleaning, freight, &c, £234 : total, £7,890. The expenditure on Junior Cadets during the year was £202, for rent of store, rifle ranges, forwarding charges, &c.; and the receipt from sales of Cadet equipment amounted to £976. The cost of the Junior Cadet system for its last year (1912) was £6,513.

11. REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF PHYSICAL EDUCATION. Physical Education Branch, Education Department, Sir,— Wellington, 17th July, 1914 I have the honour to present the first annual report on the progress of the physical education scheme for the year ending 31st March, 1914 : — REPORT ON PHYSICAL EDUCATION SCHEME. Following the adoption of the report and plan for organization of the scheme submitted bj r the Director in February, 1913, the practical organization of the branch was begun by the appointment of six men and four women as the nucleus of a staff of inspecting instructors. A staff school was held in Wellington during March,. April, and May, and the staff instructed in the details of a definite course of training for teachers, which I had drawn up with a view to — («.) Ensuring uniformity of methods and technique in the practical work; (l>.) Defining the extent of theoretical instruction in certain subjects (physiology, anatomy, moral instruction, &c); (c.) Directing the influence of the instruction towards the formation of sound physique, physical efficiency, and development of character; (d.) Co-ordinating the practical work of the syllabus in its relation to boys with the military system of drill for Senior Cadets. The scheme of physical education is intended to include practically all the primary, Native, special, and private schools subject to inspection by the Education Department, numbering approximately 2,300, conducted by 4,200 teachers, and attended by 181,144 children. The most urgent matter facing the Director was the introduction of the system to the primary schools at an early date, with a view to immediately counteracting the effects of certain undesirable influences existing in the average public-school environment, and thus beginning to improve the physical condition of the majority and reduce the percentage of the physically defective children simultaneously. The first essential step to this was the instruction of the teachers who have the care of the children in the schools. The course of training prepared for teacher's, briefly described, consists of theoretical and practical instruction in— (1.) The theory and practice of exercise in its relation to the normal growth and development of children, both mentally and physically. (2.) A definite series of daily progressive lessons in physical drill and correct methods of breathing.

II