E.—i

possible cases in which the position of a teacher might be affected by a fluctuation in the attendance of a school is materially lessened. Except for schools with sixteen to twenty pupils, the salaries of all grades have been increased. Through the joint operation of this Act and the Amendment Act of 1913 the minimum salary in any case payable, whether the teacher is certificated or uncertificated, is raised from £90 to £110, and annual increments are raised from £5 to £10, so that the maximum is reached in half the time ; also, in most instances the maximum is itself increased by amounts ranging from £10 to £90 per annum. Additional security is also given to the teacher of schools in a falling grade against a consequent loss of salary ; provision is made for the adoption of more uniform rules for payment during sickleave ; payment of removal expenses in certain cases is provided for; and there is also a provision for an addition to the scheduled salary of married assistants. The Act provides for a small immediate improvement, and ultimately for a considerable improvement, in the staffing of schools. The estimated cost of increased salaries and improved staffing due to the operation of the Act foi the year 1915 is about £60,000. Secondary Education. Grants to secondary schools, and in. particular to schools having little or no income from endowments, are increased so as to enable better salaries to be paid to the assistants in those schools. Definite staffing conditions are imposed, and minimum salaries which are better than the previous average salaries are now ensured for men and women respectively. The Act also makes it compulsory for all public secondary schools to give free places. » Scholarships. The duplicate system of National Scholarships and Education Board Scholarships There will now be only one systenrTof scholarships, called Junior and Senior National Scholarships, each tenable at a secondary school for two or more years, but for not more than five years in all. The competitive element has been removed from the award of scholarships, every child that proves its fitness by attaining a certain standard of efficiency and is otherwise eligible becoming entitled to a scholarship. On page 6 a diagram is given shewing the methods of progress from the primary school to the University under the free national system of education as it now exists. Election of Members of Education Boards and of School Committees. Considerable changes have been made in the constitution of Education Boards, the chief feature of which is the introduction of a distinction between urban and rural areas and the method of representation in each case. The period of tenure of office is also altered, being extended from three years to four years, half of the members retiring every second year. Provision is also made for the formation in certain circumstances of urban school districts, and, when an urban school district is formed, for the election of members of the School Committee on the municipal franchise. Such a Committee would have the management of all the schools within the borough or group of adjoining boroughs comprising the urban area. General. The payment of grants to Education. Boards has been revised, and the relation of the Boards' general and special funds has been more clearly defined. The grants for general purposes are in future to be allocated partly on the basis of a uniform capitation on the attendance and partly on a scale which the Act prescribes in connection with the allowances to School Committees for incidental expenses. Under the provisions of the Act the Boards and the School Committees are demonstrably better off in the aggregate than they were before. Further, subsidies are now payable on voluntary contributions to the funds of public primary schools

5