E.—2

26

School Committees. —The Board desires to express its appreciation of the valuable assistance rendered by the School Committees. The supplementary grant for incidental expenses made by Cabinet during the year enabled the Board to give financial assistance to Committees where, by reason of local circumstances, caretaking, fuel, or sanitation expenses were heavy. Finance. —At the end of the year, after taking liabilities and cash assets into consideration, the net credit balance was £3,681 Bs. Id. The actual bank balance on the 31st December was £3,916 7s. 10d., of which £2,500 was on fixed deposit. Difficulty continues to be experienced in keeping our expenditure on administration within the limits of the grant received. The large number of small schools with so few pupils in the higher standards to earn capitation makes the task of financing manual classes a particularly hard one. General. —To the Inspectors for their unfailing assistance and advice, to the teachers for the loyal manner in which they have carried out their duties, and to the secretary, office staff, architect, and manual instructors for the efficient service they have given, the sincere thanks of the Board are due. In conclusion, I desire to express the Board's appreciation of the courtesy and consideration at all times received from the Minister and officers of the Department. I have, &c., The Hon. the Minister of Education, Wellington. F. W. O. Smith, Chairman.

CANTERBURY. Sir, — I have the honour to present the following report of the proceedings of the Board for the year ended 31st. December, 1924 : — The Board. —During the early part of the year the respective wards were represented as follows : Christchurch Urban Area —Messrs. E. H. Andrews, A. Peverill, C. S. Thompson, and W. H. Winsor ; Timaru Urban Area —Messrs. J. G. Gow and J. Maze ; Middle Ward —Messrs W. A. Banks and W. P. Spencer ; North-west Ward —Messrs. H. J. Bignell and R. Wild ; South Ward —Messrs. G. W. Armitage and T. Hughes. At the election in August Mr. Walter Johnson replaced Mr. Peverill as a representative of the Christchurch Urban Area. At the August meeting Mr. Bignell was re-elected Chairman. During the year the Board held twelve ordinary and two special meetings. The Board's representatives on other educational bodies were as follows : Ashburton Technical School —Messrs. R. Galbraith and G. W. Andrews ; Banks Peninsula Technical Association —Mr. J. D. Bruce ; Christchurch Technical College —Messrs. E. H. Andrews, C. H. Opie, and A. Peverill ; Fairlie Technical School —Mr. W. J. Ormandy ; Greymouth Technical School —Messrs. H. J. Bignell and P. H. Kilgour ; Kaiapoi Technical Association —Mr. W. Doubleday; Pleasant Point Technical Association —Mr. J. Maze; Temuka Technical School —Mr. G. W. Armitage ; Timaru Technical School —Messrs. J. G. Gow and G. J. Sealey ; Waimate Technical Association —Mr. S. I. Fitch ; High School Board Representatives — Akaroa, Messrs. A. H. Westenra and L. J. Vangioni; Ashburton, Messrs. R. Kennedy and R. Bell ; Greymouth, Mr. W. R. Kettle ; Hokitika, Hon. H. L. Michel, M.L.C.; Rangiora, Messrs. W. J. Stalker, H. Boyd (until August), and D. R. Hutchison ; Timaru —Mr. J. Maze ; Waimate, Messrs. W. Lindsay and J. G. A. Shackleton. Finance. — The total expenditure on all services was £472,026 7s. lid., an increase of £16,208 2s. 9d. over the previous year. In all accounts, with the exception of those for conveyance of children and for incidental expenses of primary schools, the income has been sufficient to meet the expenditure. Since the close of the year the supplementary grant made by the Government has placed the latter account on a satisfactory footing for the time being. The conveyance of pupils continues to be a drain on the Board's Administration Fund, and, with the increasing demand for this method of providing for the education of country children, the position seems to call for review. Motor conveyance, although it is much more speedy and enables pupils to be brought in from more distant parts, is nevertheless more costly, and in no instance has it been possible to arrange for transport at the capitation rates allowed. Although by exercising the strictest economy the Board can make its building-maintenance grant meet the most pressing demands, it should be recognized that the sovereign will pay for much less labour and material to-day than when the basis of payment was fixed many years ago. Consequently, it is not possible with the money available to keep properties in a good as condition as could be wished. Another matter that might receive consideration is the Board's Administration Fund. The increased staffing of schools, the extension of conveyance facilities, subsidy applications (with the consequent stricter audit of Committees' accounts), and the general increase in the cost of all services seem to indicate that a more liberal grant should be made to Boards for administrative purposes. Conveyance and Boarding.—The number of children who were receiving the conveyance grant was 1,600, while 150 received boarding-allowance. The total expenditure on these services was £8,262 19s. 6d., of which sum the Board contributed £393 9s. from its Administration Fund. The conveying of pupils from outlying districts is extending rapidly, and during the ensuing year operations on a larger scale will be inaugurated in Mackenzie, Methven, and Oxford districts. In the latter area four of the smaller schools are to be closed. School Attendance. — Notwithstanding the epidemic of mumps and measles, that was prevalent in most parts of the district during the latter part of the year, the attendance has been well maintained. An average attendance of nearly 90 per cent, of the average roll is very satisfactory when all the circumstances are taken into consideration. The Board employs two attendance officers, and to them is due a good deal of the satisfactory results indicated above.