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NORTH CANTERBURY. Extract prom the Report of the Education Board. The Director of Manual Training refers in his report to the good work done during the yea: , and to the satisfactory conduct and attendance of the pupils. Cookery and laundry-work, which previously had been taken separately, have now been joined in one course, thus providing greater variety and helping to maintain the interest of the pupils. The average attendance at the Christchurch centres was 880 in the case of woodwork and 828 in cookery (including laundry-work). During the year representations were made to the Board urging that the control and supervision of the manual-training classes should be in the hands of the Board's Inspectors, the instructors to be regarded as assistants in the school and the work arranged by the head teacher. The proposal did not commend itself to the Board, the existing arrangement under which the Inspectors report on the work done having proved very satisfactory. At a conference of instructors held during the year the importance of co-ordinating the teaching of drawing with that in the primary schools has been emphasized, and the opinion expressed that the Department should formulate a scheme of geometrical drawing for primary schools having special bearing on manual training. In this connexion it m&v be pointed out that in the departmental Inspector's report on the Board's manual classes at the city centres it is stated that the instruction is on satisfactory lines, and that it would be an advantage if the work at country centres were placed under similar supervision. This the Board has arranged by asking Mr. Howell to report on the work carried out at these centres, in regard to which there are otherwise few changes to record. At Amberley, owing to lack of support, the technical classes for adults have been discontinued for a time. At Ashburton the interest in the work lias been well maintained, with a large increase in the number of pupils. The attendance at Kaiapoi has not been quite so good as in the previous year. At Leeston and Doyleston, too, there has been a falling-off. Ihe Board is hopeful that as the outcome of a recent conference between its representatives and the local Managers the interest formerly taken in technical work at Leeston will be revived, and that it will be found practicable for children from the surrounding schools to participate in the advantages to be derived from manual training. The school classes in cookery and woodwork at Akaroa and Rangiora have been continued during the year. At the Lyttelton centre some alterations have been carried out in order to improve the conditions under which the school classes are conducted. It is a matter for regret that in such an important centre there should be no technical classes. The reports from the several Committees supervising the work at the country centres are appended. At twenty-seven schools classes in swimming and life-saving have been held, while the schools taking some form of handwork numbered ninety-eight. There were 130 schools in which recognized classes in agriculture were carried on. During the year the question was raised as to how far the Board should expect female teachers in sole charge to take up instruction in this subject. After careful consideration the Board has agreed that the instructor in agriculture shall confer from time to time with the Chief Inspector in order that any difficulty arising may be dealt with, and the subject receive such attention as is desirable and possible having regard to the claims of the ordinary subjects of the syllabus. In his report the Chief Instructor in Agriculture gives a brief outline of the work undertaken during the year. A full rural course was continued at Lincoln and Kaikoura, while the re-established centres at Darfield and East Oxford have taken up similar work. At three other district high schools agriculture has been taken as a subject, while 136 recognized classes have been held at primary schools. Upwards of seventy teachers and students attended special classes during the year, their attendance and attention to work being reported as almost invariably entirely satisfactory. 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. Extract from the Report of the Inspectors of Schools. It has come to be generally recognized by teachers that a reasonable amount of time given to handwork has a beneficial effect upon the child's attitude towards other subjects of the curriculum. It has also become evident that '' constructiveness on the part of the child is of the essence of education." The'proper place for handwork is in active co-ordination with the whole work as a means of supplementing and accenting the instruction given. In connexion with the various forms of handwork there should be continuity. If a certain form is adopted in the lower classes it should be carried right through the school, as otherwise no great success can be achieved. With effective correlation between handwork and other subjects, interest may be added and substantial progress made with a moderate dissipation of energy. In future teaching the constructive element will be in close association with'the other forms of instruction. The wide field for initiative and strong incentive to originality afforded by the new syllabus will be welcomed by progressive teachers. Extract from the Report of the Director of Manual Training. On my visits to the centres during the year I had formed very favourable impressions of the work that was being done, and a oareful comparison of the results of these with those of former years has quite confirmed their correctness. It has been a pleasure to me to notice on my visits how, almost without exception, the classes have presented that appearance of cheerful industry which is a sure sign that pupils are interested and are making progress. The regula-