5

E.—l

classified according to the yearly average attendance, and the total number of children at the schools in each grade is shown.

Total, 1918 .. .. .. .. 2,305 schools. „ 1917 .. .. .. .. 2,368 „ Decrease .. .. .. .. 3 ~ For the number of schools in each education district classified according to grade, reference should be made to Table AI in E.-2. It will be observed that of 2,365 schools, 1,768 were in Grades I-IIIa, having average attendances ranging from 9 to 80, and of these 672 had averages ranging from 9 to 20. Of 171,000 children, nearly 24,000 are in sole-teacher schools with averages ranging from 1 to 35, and nearly 70,000 children are in schools with an average number of pupils of more than 280. Public School Buildings. During the year ending 31st March, 1919, applications were received by the Department from Education Boards for grants for new public-school buildings, additions, residences, sites, &c, to a total amount of £238,817. This is apart from schools established in buildings for which no grant is made except by way of rent. The departmental expenditure for the year was £80,780, and at the end of the financial year the commitments totalled £98,000. Thirty-five new schools of varying sizes were erected, and fifty-six were enlarged. A. considerable number of works for which grants had been authorized were delayed owing to the difficulty in procuring the necessary labour and, in some cases, the necessary materials. During the war the Educations Boards restricted the applications for grants to cases that were regarded as of pressing urgency. The result was that in growing centres the school accommodation became overtaxed to a degree that could be justified only by the necessity for exercising the strictest economy in the expenditure of public funds. Where, under normal conditions, additional rooms would have been provided, the best use was made of the existing accommodation, or temporary provision for the increase in the attendance was ma.de by renting such halls as were available, and where new schools were required every possible expedient was adopted to avoid the erection of buildings. These temporary arrangements were more or less unsatisfactory in character. The rented buildings were sometimes unlined, poorly lit, and otherwise unsuitable for educational purposes and for occupation by children. With the close of the war Education Boards are now desirous that the school accommodation should be brought up to a reasonable standard in adequacy and comfort, and, as indicating the views the Boards take of their requirements for new schools, additions to existing schools, and the requisite sites, it may be mentioned that while the grants applied for during the first six months of last year totalled £67,000, those for the corresponding period of the current year totalled £196,000. As has been pointed out in former reports, many of the older school buildings, as judged, by modern, standards, are defective in important features such as ventilation, lighting, shape and size of class-rooms, &c. In other countries also the educational authorities, in their official reports, note that similar conditions obtain. Though the high cost of building at the present time may prohibit the adoption of a general scheme of reconstruction, some of the oldest schools are so badly constructed as to demand attention at the earliest possible opportunity. In some

Grade of School. Number Total of Average Schools. Attendance. Grade of School. Number of Schools. Total Average! Attendance. 0. (1-8) 1. (9-20) 11. (21-35) 111 a. (36-80) IIIb. (81-120) IVa. (121-160) IVb. (161-200) IVc. (201-240) Va. (241-280) Vb. (281-320) Vu. (321-360) Vd. (861-400) .170 672 524 572 109 59 ■17 27 28 21 22 17 1,013 9,438 13,356 28,693 1.0.299 8,074 8,095 6,150 7,748 6,997 7,351 6,138 VIa. (401-450) .. Vhi. (151 500) .. VII a. (501-550) .. VIin. (551-600) .. VI lo. (601.-650) .. VI Id. (651-700) .. VI.Ie. (701-750) .. VIIf. (751-800) .. Vllu. (801-850) .. Villi. (851-900) .. VI11. (901 950) .. II 14 II 12 18 14 7 4,655 7.209 5,225 6,839 11,633 9,477 5,018 4,-645 801 1,719 906 6 1 2 1