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The financial support of the Waipawa Borough Council, the Waipawa County Council, and the Patangata County Council enabled us to offer tuition at very moderate fees, with the result that our classes during 1918 were well attended throughout. The time would seem to be opportune for the establishment of an agricultural and technical college to cater for the wants of this district as regards technical education, and for the whole east coast of the North Island so far as agricultural education is concerned. The Howard Bequest should be ample for this purpose. Gilbert McKay, Chairman. Wm. Smith, Secretary.

WELLINGTON DISTRICT. Extract from the Report of the Director of the Wellington Technical School. The accommodation at present is deplorable, the work being carried on in many rooms where the conditions are little short of appalling for study of any kind. It is therefore all the more gratifying to learn that the vexed question of the site for a new school has at length been settled by the gift of 4 acres of land at Mount Cook and a subsidy of £15,000. This provision, together with the generous donation of £15,000 made by the City Council, will enable a commencement to be made with a building which will adequately cope with the needs of the district, and constitute a lasting monument to the good citizenship of Wellington. The very best thanks are due to the Minister of Justice, the Hon. T. M. Wilford, for his proposal whereby the foundations of the building might be provided on the actual site by means of prison labour. Should this proposal eventuate in actual performance a very valuable stimulus will have been provided for the furtherance of the good work. The numbers attending in the several departments of the school, apart from the Technical High School work, show a decrease from those of last year. The attendance in the Technical High School showed a considerable increase, and established a record for this school. The average class entries at the technical classes were as follows: Art and art crafts, 224; building-construction, 15; carpentry and joinery, 44; plumbing, 49; engineering, 258; science, 335; domestic economy, 94; English, Latin, and arithmetic, &c, 501; commerce, 387; " Amokura " classes, 117: total, 2,024, as compared with 2,291 for the previous year. The numbers of those who took grouped courses during the year and attended well enough to earn higher capitation were as follows: Elementary commercial, 149; higher commercial, 73; science and mathematics, 47; trades, 149; domestic, 11; art and art crafts, 44; soldiers and nurses, 76: total, 549. Adding 60 "Amokura" boys and 412 Technical High School students it appears that, out of 1,551 students enrolled during the year, 945 took grouped courses of some value, a percentage of 609, as compared with 643 for the year 1917, and 655 for 1916. Leaving out paying students in day classes, who were compelled to attend grouped courses, there remain 627 fee-paying students, of whom 130 took grouped courses. The following is an analysis of the number of students admitted during the year 1918 : — Technical High School: Free students, 398; paying students, 14: total, 412. Technical and continuation classes: Junior free students—first year 120, second year 99, third year 3; senior free students —first year 97, second year 69, third and fourth years 29; paying students, 627; soldiers and nurses, 76; scholarship-holders and others receiving free tuition, 19: total, 1,139, of which number 707 were males and 432 females. In addition the school staff provided instruction as follows: Wellington Boys' College—Woodwork (40) and drawing (24); Wellington Girls' College—drawing and design (240); Teachers' Training College —drawing, blackboard illustration, &c. —students (127), probationers (12), and public-school teachers (18): a total in all of 2,012 students". Art classes have been conducted with considerable success not only in the Art School itself, but also in the Technical High School, the Wellington Girls' College, the Teachers' Training.College (for teachers in training, ami on Saturday mornings for primary-school teachers), and for the Wellington Boys' College on Saturday mornings at the Technical School. The influence of the teaching is therefore widely felt in the primary and secondary schools. The classes for science and mathematics, engineering and building trades continue to do satisfactory work in spite of the general inconvenience and inadequacy of our rooms and equipment. The numbers in the commercial and continuation classes are somewhat less than those for last year, but interest in the work has been fully maintained. Class entries for domestic economy were somewhat less than those for last year, but these classes should be considerably more popular, and will no doubt greatly increase when we have suitable rooms for the purpose. The numbers in the Technical High School were considerably above those for 1917, and the pleasing feature that mechanical-trades classes received the greatest proportionate increase was again in evidence as last year. The boys in the carpentry classes did some work for the military authorities. It has not yet been possible.for us to arrange special classes for returned soldiers, but several have attended the ordinary classes, with satisfactory results in some cases. lam convinced that, in most subjects, it would be better to arrange for separate classes for these men. At the same time the numbers coming forward in each subject at present do not warrant the formation of special classes. In the engineering workshops, in the day classes, some of these men have done very good work ; but the shop is at present overcrowded both day and evening, with tools as well as with pupils, and it is impossible to give the students the best conditions.