31

E.—l

The subjects most generally taken up and the number of classes were as follows : — Subjects. Number of Classes. 1914. 1915. Free and instrumental drawing . . .. .. 41 40 Domestic subjects .. . . .. .. .. 62 70 Woodwork .'. ..- .. .. .. .. ..29 29 Experimental and natural science .. .. .. 240 237 Elementary agriculture .. . . .. .. 24 23 Swimming and life-saving .. .. .. .. .30 24 426 423 Capitation amounted to £1,747 (£4-1 per class), while special grants totalling £609 were made in aid of buildings and equipment. Additional buildings were erected at the Wanganui Girls' College (laboratory), the Whangarei (agriculture), Palmerston North (dressmaking), and Otago Boys' High Schools (laboratory), while additional equipment, chiefly in the way of apparatus for physics and chemistry, was provided at the| Wanganui and Colleges, 1 } the New Plymouth, Dannevirke, Christchurch Boys', and Otago Boys' High Schools. The provision in the way of laboratory accommodation is now in most cases very satisfactory, as is also that for practical work in woodwork and domestic subjects where these are taken up. Considerable attention is being given to instruction^bearing on the home, and the staffs of many of the girls' schools now include teachers specially qualified for this important branch of a girls' education. Approved classes for subjects bearing on rural life and pursuits were cairied on at eleven schools. At some of the rural secondary schools definite courses of instruction are in process of development, and should achieve the success they deserve, provided that they receive adequate support at the hands of the communities concerned. Staffs of Secondary Schools. The number of teachers on the staffs of secondary schools, excluding lower departments, in the years 1914 and 1915 were as follows : — , __r-19i4.______._-, , . 1915. . , Malos. Females. Total. Males. Females. Total. Regular staff .. 163 120 283 174 126 300 Part-time teachers 41 32 73 44 42 86 Included in the regular staff of 300 teachers were 33 principals, leaving a total of 267 assistants. According to the provisions of the Education Act, 1914, the number of assistants in any secondary school must not be less than one for every twenty-five pupils, and it appears that, taking all the schools together, the average number of pupils per assistant teacher was 24-3. Including the principals, the average number of pupils per full time teacher was 21*6, as compared with 21-5 in 1914. The corresponding figure in secondary schools on the grant list in England and Wales in 1913 was 17-2, and in Scotland it was 18-2. In the latter country the number of part-time teachers also employed was more than, half the number of full-time teachers. The head teacher of a district high school generally takes some part in the secondary instruction, and receives from the Government the sum of £30 in addition to the salary he would receive as head teacher of a primary school of the same size. In 1915 there were in the secondary departments of district high schools 94 special secondary assistants —37 men and 57 women. Leaving out of consideration the head teachers, the average number of pupils per teacher was, on the roll number at the end of the year, 21-4, on the average attendance for the year, 23-4. Salaries and Status of Secondary Teachers. (Lower Departments excluded.) The provisions in the Education Act of ]914 ensuring certain minimum salaries and minimum average salaries have resulted in a much higher expenditure on salaries in 1915 than in previous years. The total annual amount of salaries of full-time