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HAWKE'S BAY. Extract from the Report of the Inspectors of Schools. The following table shows the roll number at each of the district high schools at the end of the year :— First Year. Seoond Year. Third Year. Fourth Year. Total. Hastings ... ... ... 29 29 12 3 73 Waipawa ... ... ... 51 24 8 6 89 Woodville ... ... ... 12 6 1 1 20 During the year thirty-one pupils, of whom twenty-five were in their first year, left without completing their course. The great demand for labour in the district consequent upon the departure of so many of the young men furnishes a feasible explanation. In the first two years in the district high school all pupils take the rural course; thereafter specialization occurs in different directions. The agricultural-science course, for instance, is continued in the third and fourth year up to the standard of the Matriculation and Public Service Senior Examinations. During 1916 the total number taking this advanced course was forty-one. Fifteen pupils were candidates at the Matriculation Examination, and of these twelve passed, all of them having taken agricultural and natural science. This gratifying result shows clearly that a rural course can be carried up to the usual limits of a secondary education. The establishment of the agricultural bursaries will give an objective that has hitherto been lacking, and will enable students to carry on their work to an expert stage. Extract from: the Report of the Director of Manual and Technical Instruction, It is six years since the rural course was introduced at the district high schools at Hastings, Waipawa, and Woodville, and the year just ended has been the most successful of any both as regards the quality of the work done and the number of pupils taking the course. In addition to the rural course, extending over two years, an advanced course in agricultural science is taken by the third- and fourth-year pupils for Public Service Senior and Matriculation Examinations. The numbers of pupils taking the advanced course were: Hastings, 15; Waipawa, 19; and Woodville, 7. The plendid results obtained at the recent examinations by candidates from these district high schools vouch for the excellence of the work accomplished. WELLINGTON. Extract from the Report of the Inspectors of Schools. In six of the district high schools the instruction is based on the rural course. Latin and French (both optional subjects) are taken in six schools and two schools respectively. In all except one the girls attend the classes in housecraft, while the boys take drawing and woodwork tinder itinerant instructors. The scientific part of the course includes home science, hygiene, botany, and agriculture, and, in the case of one school, dairy science, most of the lessons in which are given by the agricultural instructors, who are assisted wherever possible by the permanent staff of the school. The general efficiency of the secondary classes is estimated by us as from satisfactory to very good in the case of eight of the schools, and fair in the case of the remaining one. Extract from the Report of the Education Board. The work of the district high schools is fully discussed in the report of the Inspectors. The average attendances for the year 1916 were: Carterton, 36; Eketahuna, 21; Greytown, 14; Hutt, 18; Levin, 35; Masterton, 72; Normal, 18; Pahiatua, 34; Petone, 59: total, 307. NELSON. Extract from the Report of the Inspectors of Schools. In the secondary department of each of the four district high schools there was a slight increase in attendance for the year 1916. The average roll number at the different schools was as follows: Westport, 60; Motueka, 29; Reefton, 25; Takaka, 23 : total, 137. As hitherto, the course of instruction is in general based on the requirements for the Public Service Entrance Examination. A small proportion of the pupils reach the Matriculation standard. Slight variations in the sohemes of instruction exist at the different schools. At Westport and at Motueka, in addition to a general course, a commercial course of work is carried out. In Westport a very considerable difficulty has been experienced in obtaining a teacher to take up the commercial'subjects—book-keeping, shorthand, and typewriting. At three of the schools special attention has been given to a partial rural course, elementary agriculture, dairy-work, or agricultural chemistry being included in the curriculum. Where possible this work has been under the direct supervision of the Education Board's instructor in agriculture, who visits two of the centres regularly in alternate weeks. Thoroughly satisfactory work has in this way been carried on in this important branch of instruction, though, on account of want of suitable rooms and equipment, adverse local conditions, and the inability to obtain teachers with the necessary special qualifications, it has not been found possible to adopt the full rural course of work. Ironwork, woodwork, and cookery are taught as subjects of manual training, though at two" of the schools no provision exists for instruction in the first two of these subjects. The work of these classes is taken up by the pupils with very considerable interest, and in general an efficient standard of attainment has been reached. The continuity of the work often suffers through the frequent changing of teachers.

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