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The amounts paid on this account for railway fares in the years 1914-15 and 1915-16 were as follow : — 1914-15. 1915-16. £ S, Primary pupils .. .. .. ... M 9,663 10,124 Pupils attending— (a.) Secondary schools .. .. .. .. 3,285 3,297 (6.) District high schools .. .. .. 1,092 1,260 (c.) Technical schools .. .. .. .. 2,116 2,238 £16,156 £16,919 Education Boards are also authorized to make provision, when necessary, for the conveyance of pupils to primary schools by road or water. In the case of a child being compelled to live away from home to attend school, provision is made for a boarding-allowance of 2s. 6d. a week. The total amount paid in 1915-16 to Education Boards]|for conveyance|by road and water and for board of children was £9,119, as against £7,204 in 1914-15. The combined amount paid for conveyance by rail, road, and water and for board of children in attendance at public schools during 1915-16 was therefore £26,038, as against an expenditure of £23,360 for the previous year. Class-books and School and Class Libraries. During the year grants were given for establishing and maintaining school and class libraries. These grants come under two heads : — (a.) A capitation grant at the rate of 3d. per head on the average attendance was paid to Boards for the purpose of supplying schools with supplementary continuous readers in sufficient numbers for class-reading in P to S6 inclusive, and also for the free supply of class-books in necessitous cases or in cases where a newly entered pupil had already^purchased elsewhere class-books different from those in use in the school. After provision was made for the supply of such books, the balance of the grant, if any, was spent on approved books suitable for individual reading in school or at home. (6.) Further to encourage school libraries provision was made for the payment of subsidies of £1 for £1 on. moneys raised by voluntary contributions for the purpose of establishing, maintaining, or increasing the utility of school libraries that contained books suitable for individual reading in school or at home. In addition to this departmental subsidy a subsidy is payable by the Education Board under section 37 of the Education Act, but in. this case the Board is not required to pay a sum exceeding 3d. for each child in average attendance at a school, or exceeding £5 for any one school. The books purchased are to be suitable for individual reading in school or at home, and are to be approved by the Senior Inspector. The " School Journal " and other Publications. The School Journal has now completed its ninth year of issue. It is published monthly, except that there are no issues for the months of December and January, when most of the schools are closed for the summer vacation. To provide readingmatter for the time the schools are open during the month of December, the November number is considerably enlarged. The School Journal is published in three parts suited to the varying capacities of the pupils ; and to public schools, to Native schools, special schools, and. certain other institutions more or less under departmental control or supervision, copies are sent in sufficient numbers to provide each pupil on the roll of the standard classes with a copy of the appropriate part. To the institutions just mentioned the School Journal is supplied free of cost, and to a very large number of private schools it is supplied at moderate rates. Of the November issue (the last for the year) the number of copies printed was—Part I, 55,500 ; Part 11, 53,100 ; Part 111, 42,500. In addition to the illustrations appearing in the pages of the School Journal, pictures and prints illustrating geography, history, and nature-study have been

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