Appendix A.]

E.—2.

—Hon. Mr. D. T. Fleming and Mr. W. It. Brugh; Waitaki High Schools' Board—Mr. James Mitchell; Boards of Management of Associated (Technical) Classes—Dunedin, Messrs. James Wallace, W. R. Brugh, and P. McKinlay, M.A.; Oamaru, Mr. James Mitchell; Milton, Messrs. P. McKinlay, M.A., and W. B. Graham. Number of Schools. —The number of schools in operation at the 31st December, 1918, was 257, four less than in the previous year. Six of these were household schools. Sixteen had an average attendance below 9, eighty from 9 to 20, fifty-five from 21 to 35, fifty-four from 36 to 80, fourteen from 81 to 120, seven from 121 to 160, five from 161 to 200, nine from 201 to 360, five from 361 to 500, and twelve over 500. Teachers. —On the 31st December there were in the Board's service 741 teachers, classified as under :— .. . _ . ■_ , , Males. Females. Total. Head teachers ... ... ... .. ... 98 5 103 Sole teachers ... ... ... ... ... 22 133 155 Assistant teachers ... ... ... ... 57 258 315 Total of adult teachers ... ... 177 396 . 573 Pupil-teachers ... ... ... 30 51 81 Probationers ... ... ... ... ... 9 43 52 Teachers of needlework ... ... ... 16 16 Manual and technical (special teachers) ... ... 10 9 19 Totals for 1918 ... ... ... 226 515 741 There were thirty-one permanent teachers absent on military service. The ratio of male teachers to female teachers employed in Otago has been for the past two years : Adult teachers —1917, 100 males to 228 females; 1918, 100 males to 224 females. Pupil-teachers and probationers—l9l7, 100 males to 258 females; 1918, 100 males to 241 females. During the year the Board appointed ninety-nine adult teachers. Sixty-two pupil-teachers and probationers were admitted to the service, of whom thirty-four had passed the Matriculation Examination, twenty had passed the Intermediate or the Public Service Entrance Examination, five held lower leaving-certificates, and three held proficiency certificates. Of the 573 adult teachers employed, 457 were fully classifier], 17 held licenses, and 98 were unclassified and unlicensed. Of the 457 certificated teachers, 10 were in Class A, 50 in Class B, 202 in Class C, 180 in Class D, and 15 in Class E. Attendance of Pupils. —To a, greater extent than has been the case for many years past the attendance was detrimentally affected by bad weather and the prevalence of sickness. A few schools were closed for various periods on account of diphtheria, while early in November the disastrous visitation of influenza necessitated the complete stoppage of school-work for the remainder of the year. The average roll, average attendance, and percentage of average attendance were —Average roll, 22,155; average attendance, 20,230; percentage, 91*31. The mean roll number shows an increase of 27 for the year, the average attendance a decrease of 249, and the percentage of attendance a decrease of I*l9. The following table shows for each twenty years since the institution of the Otago education scheme in 1856, and for the year just closed, the number of schools, the number of teachers, the number on the rolls, and the average attendance :—

Classification. —The pupils of the public schools classified according to standards as at the 31st December, 1918, were—Class P, 6,968 (31*2 per cent.); SI, 3,077 (13*8 per cent.); S2, 2,801 (12-6 per cent.); S3, 2,833 (12*7 per cent.); S4, 2,652 (11*9 per cent.); S5, 2,343 (10*4 per cent.); S6, 1,612 (72 per cent.); S7 (exclusive of secondary pupils of district high schools), 53 (o'2 per cent.) : total, 22,339. The figures for the secondary classes were —Boys, 116; girls, 155 : total, 271. Percentage: Boys, 43; girls, 57. Finance. —At the 31st December, 1917, the net balance to credit was £20,295 ss. 3d. The total receipts for the year 1918 amounted to £185,794 18s. 5d., and the total payments to £180,111 lis. 3d. The net balance to credit at 31st December last was £25,978 12s. sd. The Board trusts the Minister will soon find himself able to refund to Boards the amounts they have had to spend in past years out of their General Fund on relieving teachers, conveyance of children, and purchase of school-sites. District High Schools. —[See E.-6, Report on Secondary Education.] School of Art. —[See E.-5, Report on Technical Education.] Junior and Senior National Scholarships. —Of the 1,612 pupils in S6 in the last quarter of the year, 199 (or 12*3 per cent.) were competitors for Junior Scholarships, and of these 30

XV

Year. Schools. 1 * Teachers. On the" Roll. Average of ... , B Attendance, Attendance. 0tagoT)istrict . Percentage of Attendance""™ for whole of Dominion.!"^ I 1856-57 1876 1896 1916 1918 5 7 165 329 218 554 261 754 257 741 13,537 22,091 21,880 22,156 236 11,210 19,502 85-9 20,237 92-4 20,230 91-31 81-4 88-6