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THE GENERAL COUNCIL OF EDUCATION. A special meeting of the first General Council of Education was held in February, 1918, at which meeting reports of committees were presented and adopted dealing with the following subjects : Adaptation of the Education system of the Dominion to the development of its resources ; appointment of teachers in all classes of schools ; examinations ; the establishment and disestablishment of several technical high schools and district high schools. In accordance with the provisions of the Education Act the triennial election of members of the General Council of Education was held in May, 1918, and the second Council held its first meeting in June. The subjects dealt with at this meeting included public school staffing ; the inspectorate ; playgrounds ; secondary school matters ; compulsory continued education ; local control. Various recommendations of the Council have been given effect to, and other proposals will be carried into effect as opportunity permits. The proceedings of the Council are printed fully in a separate publication. COST OF EDUCATION. (See also Tables A-E on pages (i(i and U7, and Appendix A.) The total expenditure by the Education Department for the year 1918-19 was £1,980,225, an increase of £177,038 over the expenditure for the previous year. If to this expenditure is added the income derived by secondary schools and University colleges from reserves (most of which was expended), the total public expenditure on education amounted to £2,072,000, or £l 15s. lOd. per head of the population. This figure is higher than the corresponding one for the Australian States, and is a little lower than the amount per head expended by the Government in the United States of America. It is, however, difficult to make a fair comparison with the expenditure in other countries where the revenue for educational purposes is derived from various public and private sources. Of the total expenditure 75 per cent, was on account of primary education, 12 per cent, on account of secondary education (including technical high schools), 4 per cent, on account of university education, 3 per cent, on account of industrial and special schools, 3 per cent, on account of technical education, and 3 per cent, on account of teachers' superannuation and miscellaneous charges. The expenditure on primary education per head of roll number was £7 9s. 9d., excluding new buildings, and £7 18s. 4d., including these ; the expenditure on secondary education per head of the roll number was £15 10s. 7d., excluding new buildings and reserves revenue, and £20 19s. 4d., including them. All of these amounts are greater than the corresponding figures for the previous year. Of the expenditure of £1,555,000 by the Government on primary education, £1,071,000 was on account of teachers' salaries and allowances, and £109,000 was for the general administrative purposes of Education Boards and allowances to School Committees. £84,000 represented the expenditure on new school buildings and additions, and £107,000 was the amount granted for the maintenance of school buildings and as a trust fund for the rebuilding of such when necessary. The cost of the inspection of schools amounted to £28,000, and ol the conveyance of scholars and teachers and board of the former, to £23,000. The expenditure on medical inspection and physical education amounted to nearly £11,000. Included in the total expenditure on education is the sum of £80,000 expended on social agencies such as the work of infant-life protection, the juvenile probation system, and schools for the blind, the deaf, the feeble-minded, and for dependent and delinquent children. PRIMARY EDUCATION. Number of Public Schools. (E-2. Tables Al and 83.) The number of public schools open at the end of .1918 was 2,365, as against 2,368 for the year 1917, a decrease of 3. In the following table the schools arc