Appendix A.J

E.—2.

XIII

the present deficit of £1,207 7s. 6d. is being carried forward. As regards the Buildings Account, there was a debit of £2,829 18s. 3d. on Building Maintenance, mainly owing, it may be remarked, to necessary expenditure on the establishment of workshops and supplies of building-material. In order to gradually meet this deficit it will be necessary for the Board to exercise economy when authorizing expenditure from this fund. The Rebuilding Account was in credit at the close of the year by the sum of £17,249 14s. 10d., after providing for a proposed transfer to meet a deficit of £1,060 2s. 9d. on the New Buildings Account. Schools. —The number of schools in operation at the end of the year, including eight aided schools but excluding eight side schools, was 380, classified as follows : Grade 0, 16; Grade I, 111; Grade 11, 93; Grade 111, 108; Grade IV, 19; Grade V, 13; Grade VI, 4; Grade VII, 16: total, 380. During the year schools were opened at Cameron's, Glen Alton, Huntingdon, Lagmhor, Mount Nessing, Parnassus, and Teschemaker's, and closed at Bushside, French Farm, Greta, Lake Kanieri, and Waikerikeri. The schools at Cricklewood, Four Peaks, and Kisselton, which had been closed for a time, were reopened, The undermentioned table shows the number of schools at the end of the year of each decade given, and at the end of the years 1917 and 1918; also the number of children on the rolls, the approximate number in average attendance, and the percentage of attendance : —

The marked decrease in the percentage of attendance as compared with the previous year was owing to the prevalence of sickness among the children during the greater part of the year. Maintenance. —The total expenditure on primary salaries for the year 1918, including £3,760 19s. 3d. house allowances and £1,035 6s. lid. for relieving teachers, was £165,436 17s. sd. The salaries paid to teachers in secondary departments amounted to £6,078 17s. Id., and the sum of £9,593 6s. lid. was distributed as war bonuses to primary, secondary, and technical teachers. The following table shows the expenditure on salaries and incidentals for each year mentioned : —

Teachers' Salaries. —At the end of 1918 new regulations were issued by the Department, providing for considerable increases in the salaries and allowances of teachers, pupil or " junior " teachers, probationers, and training-college students; also for some increase in the staffs of the larger schools. The Board is pleased that the claims of the teachers to increased salary, owing to the higher cost of living, have been recognized. Already the better remuneration now offered to junior teachers and probationers has been the means of inducing more to enter the teaching profession. The provision of an assistant for every forty children in average attendance over 521 is a step in the right direction. Hitherto in many schools some of the classes have been too large to enable the teachers to do justice to their pupils. This defect will now be remedied to some extent, but it is felt that even more relief should be given by still further strengthening the staffs of the larger schools. School Staffs. —There were 974 teachers in the Board's service at the end of 1918. Of these, 380 (158 males and 222 females) were head teachers or in sole charge; 470 (68 males and 402 females) were assistants; and 124 (20 males and 104 females) were pupil-teachers. There were in addition 79 (9 males and 70 females) probationers and 25 sewing-mistresses in small schools in charge of male teachers. Conveyance and Board of Children. —The expenditure for the conveyance of children to school and board of children living a long distance from school was £3,508 19s. Conveyance allowance was paid in respect of 830 children, and boarding-allowance for sixty-five children. Following upon the increased capitation now paid for conveyance of children and the doubling of the boarding-allowance, of which all Committees have been informed, it is anticipated that the expenditure under these headings will show a large increase for the current year. Scholarships. —The number of candidates for Junior National Scholarships was 287—girls, 168; boys, 119. Of these, thirty-eight qualified —eleven girls and twenty-seven boys. One successful candidate had been attending a sole-charge school —viz., Arundel; eleven had been

Year. Total of Schools. y r Average Attendance. Percentage of Attendance. 880 890 900 910 917 918 185 23,086 16,412 268 29,605 23,728 335 27,930 23,806 360 29,778 25,587 376 34,119 30,061 388 34,722 29,684 71-1 80-1 81-6 85-9 88-1 85-5

Yoar. Salaries. Incidentals. Totals. Average Attendance. 1880 1900 1917 Bonus .. 1918 £ s. d. 55,318 17 8 70,978 18 7 160,797 6 6 9,593 6 11 165,436 17 5 £ s. d. 8,071 12 2 8,064 13 10 11,682 3 4 £ s. d. 63,390 9 10 79,043 12 5 177,112 16 3 16,412 23,806 30,061 11,720 12 11 .186,750 17 3 29,684