E.—l.

film ; the training of teachers in the technique of teaching through the medium of the film ; the utility of other mechanical devices for visual education ; and the adaptation of a room in every school to serve as a school theatre where the maximum amount of sunlight could be excluded with the minimum interference with ventilation. The conference was unanimous on the question of the importance of visual aids in education. The relatively very large number of schools necessitated by the distribution of our small population over a large area makes the problem of organizing and financing the stipply of projectors and films one of considerable difficulty. I have accordingly appointed a special committee to report on ways and means of equipping our schools with aids to visual education, whether by means of moving pictures or otherwise. Early in 1937 I convened a conference on the subject of physical education. The members included representatives of the Education and Health Departments and of various branches of the teaching profession, together with other persons well qualified to speak on the subject. The Minister of Internal Affairs showed his keen interest in the subject by attending and presiding whenever I was unable to be present. Discussion was thorough: the provision of suitable text-books for both primary and post-primary schools; the training of teachers and of specialist instructors for service in the field ; appropriate clothing, footwear, and school lunches ; hygienic construction of schools ; suitable equipment for playgrounds and class-rooms ; the continuation of the physical training of those who have left school; the special provision necessary in schools and health camps for those of subnormal physical development ; the place of military training in the postprimary curriculum ; the use of school-grounds outside regular school hours for general recreational purposes, and the best means for arousing in the community the desire for physical efficiency ; the supervision and direction of a scheme for physical training—all these were the subject of valuable recommendations. Since the conference, special consideration has been given to these recommendations, and I hope before long to be able to announce the Government's intentions in this very important matter. For the first time for many years the Lecturers in Agriculture in the Training Colleges and the Education Boards' Instructors in Agriculture were called to a meeting in Wellington to consider instruction in agriculture in the schools, to take stock of what has been done and the methods employed, and to discuss future procedure. Various aspects of the subject were fully reviewed, special attention being given to the organization and progress of boys' and girls' clubs, the teaching of nature-study and elementary science, the teaching of agriculture in the secondary departments of district high schools, garden-work, and the use of the columns of the Education Gazette as a means of disseminating information. The lecturers and instructors expressed their appreciation of the opportunity of meeting together to discuss matters in which all were so keenly interested and of considering procedure that has proved effective in other districts. The importance of agriculture to the Dominion is undoubted : it is essential, therefore, that the subject should be handled in the schools in the manner that will be productive of the best and most lasting results. As an outcome of the conference the Education Gazette has published a series of articles on native shrubs in furtherance of a scheme of tree-raising, so that as many schools as possible may join in a tree-planting scheme as part of the Centenary Celebrations in 1940. On the 18th March, 1937, a conference of Education Boards' architects met to exchange views on the question of school buildings generally, also the maintenance of buildings and the equipment and furniture of class-rooms. The practices followed in each district were discussed, and general agreement was arrived at as to future practice, particularly in the design for open-air classrooms and in the construction of school furniture.

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