E.—l

Classes are conducted at the centre in drama, child-care, literature, art appreciation, physical welfare, and the like, and courses are also run in outlying areas. But the experiment means more than the mere delivering of lectures. The ultimate aim is to gather around the Community Centre all the educational and cultural activities in the district. One room has already been comfortably furnished as a readingroom, and the centre serves not only as a meeting-place for such organizations as the New Education Fellowship and the Workers' Educational Association, but also as a place where any individual can drop in for advice and guidance on such matters as the choosing of books, the care of children, the decoration of the home, or any matter in which two well-qualified people can help. It is hoped in the near future to provide a gymnasium, a nursery class for small children on sale days, facilities for play-production, and materials and instruction for various kinds of crafts. Already full use is being made of the art set provided by the Carnegie Corporation of New York. It may be three or four years before the real value of the experiment can be gauged. lam desirous that in the early stages it should be regarded as an experiment and its structure left as flexible as possible. If it is successful it may have very far-reaching effects upon adult education in New Zealand. THE TEACHING PKOFESSION. Consultation with Teachers. Throughoiit my administration I have held it as a fundamental tenet that the teaching profession should be fully consulted when changes of educational policy are contemplated. This is essential if it is to be regarded as a profession in any real sense of the term. During the year I have been in constant touch with the teachers' organizations over the Education Bill, the salary scales, the text-books scheme, and many other smaller matters ; and I wish to express my gratitude for the reasonable and friendly attitude they have always adopted and the very valuable help they have given. I may at the same time thank the Secretaries of the Education Boards for their assistance with the Teachers' Salaries Regulations 1938, especially Mr. W. L. Dunn, Secretary of the Hawke's Bay Education Board, who played a most important part in the preparation of the Regulations. Salaries of Secondary and Technical School Teachers. In fulfilment of a promise given to representatives of the Secondary Schools' Association and the Technical School Teachers' Association I appointed a committee to investigate the whole question of staffing and salaries in post-primary schools. It was not until the end of the year that the Committee had gathered all the relevant information, and I hope that a schedule of staffing and a scale of salaries will be formulated that will prove satisfactory to every one concerned. Exchange of Teachers. Under the scheme for the exchange of positions between New Zealand teachers and those in other parts of the Empire, thirty New Zealand teachers served abroad during the year. Nineteen were in Great Britain, three in Canada, and eight in Australia. Four of the English exchanges were of post-primary teachers, the remainder being primary. Arrangements were also made for the lecturers in geography at the Auckland Training College and the Cortland State Normal School, United States of America, to exchange positions for a year. Training of Teachers. The Government's policy of extending the school system and at the same time reducing the teaching load of the individual teacher has thrown a very heavy strain on the four teachers' training colleges. If legislative authority is given in the near future for the raising of the school-age to fifteen years, the demands made on the colleges will be still further intensified. lam confident that with the additional

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