E.-2

Appendix A.]

The number of teachers in the service of the Board was 222, graded as follows Sole teachers, 13 female and 10 male ; head teachers, 18 female and 32 male ; assistants, 74 female and 1.2 male ; pupil teachers, 18 female ; probationers, 14 female and 1 male. At the annual examination for pupil-teachers and probationers three gained a pass for the C examination and six for the D, and six gained partial passes for D. Taranaki Scholarships were gained by two candidates from the New Plymouth Girls' High School, and by one from the Stratford District High. School. The Senior and Junior National Scholarships were won by candidates from the following schools : Senior—New Plymouth Boys' High School (three), Stratford District High School (one) ; Junior— Stratford District High School (seven), Inglewood (three), Ngaerc (one). The Bayly Scholarship was won by a candidate from the New Plymouth Boys' High School. The receipts of the Board from all sources, inoluding £3,216 Is. 4d. credit balance from 19.14, amounted to £49,867 2s. Id. ; while the expenditure was as follows : Administration, £3,190 4s. 7d. ; teachers' salaries, £32,367 Bs. I.od. ; secondary education, £1,334 17s. ; manual and technical, £4,349 Is. 6d. ; buildings, £4,065 19s. 9. ; training of teachers, £137 ss. lOd. ; special funds, £126 3s. 6d. leaving a credit balance of £4,296 Is. Id. The following is an abstract showing the number of schools, teachers, and pupils attending schools in the district, beginning with the year 1877, to the present time : —■

The relations of the Board with the Education Department, its official and teaching staff, and with the School Committees, have been most cordial and pleasant throughout the year. —I have, &c. Harold Trimble, Chairman. The Hon. the Minister of Education, Wellington. WANGANUI. Sir, — Education Office, Wanganui, 19th April, 1916. I have to present the following report of the proceedings of this Board for the year ending 31st December, 1915. The Board. —The Board is constituted as follows : Northern Ward—Messrs. E. Dixon, P. ODea, and W. Bruce ; Central Ward—Messrs. F. Purnell, D. H. Guthrie, M.P., and T. A. Harris; Southern Ward —Messrs. F. Pirani, G. H. Bennett, and A. Fraser. At the annual election Messrs. E. Dixon, F. Purnell, and G. H. Bennett were re-elected unopposed to the Northern, Central, and Southern Wards respectively. Mr. Pirani was re-elected Chairman for the ninth successive term. Twelve meetings were held during the year, the average attendance of members being eight. The Boundaries. —lt was with something akin to amazement that the members of the Board learned that the Advisory Council of Education had decided to mutilate the Board's district by adding to Taranaki that portion in which agricultural instruction had been carried on most successfully, with, the e)bject apparently of justifying the continued existence of the Taranaki Board. The existing education district was ideal for administrative purposes, Wanganui being right in the centre of it, but the alteration has made it lopsided and will militate cemsidcrably against successful we>rking. As a result of the alteration of boundaries, the number of members of the Board will be increased to ten, and six of the present members—Messrs. G. H. Bennett, E. Dixon, D. H. Guthrie, P. ODea, F. Pirani, and F. Purnell—will not be candidates for re-election. As all the members retiring are old members of the Board and have been prominently connected with educational activities in this district for many years it is only right to place on record the fact that the)'' have given whole-souled service to the interests of the community without fee or reward, frequently sacrificing their personal interests to some expenditure which would otherwise have been inevitable, and assisting to place true education in this district on a higher plane than it would otherwise have been. Montessori. —Apart from the Inspectors' opinion on the introduction of the Montessori system of infant-teaching in the district, it should be pointed out that from the work in that direction already done, especially at the Central Infants' School in Wanganui, under Mrs. Hawk, there can be no question of its suitability for the early stages of a child's educational training, but it can only be carried out under special conditions, such as " large class-rooms, with as much floor-space as seating-accommodation, the removal of the ordinary methods of class restraint, and as much time given to activity as to sitting still." The quotation is from a recent speech of a medical officer of the Education Department. . . .

III

Year ending Schools. T *2L. i _J Pupilteachers and Probationers. Total. Roll Number. Average. 1877 .. 1887 .. 1897 .. 1907 .. 1914 .. 1915 .. ..23 23 7 35 35 9 60 60 18 81 78 45 100 99 80 104 103 86 7 9 18 45 80 86 '2 20 29 23 30 33 32 70 107 146 209 222 726 2,395 3,845 5,096 6,389 6,504 496 1,597 3,018 4,246 5,807 5,837