Expenditure—Salaries of teachers ... £ s. d.
939 10 8
Buildings and repairs ... 740 0 0
Furniture and books ... 110 0 0
Fuel, &c. ... 18 15 0
£1,808 5 8

The number of children attending these schools was 577.

From the above figures it will be found:

1st. That the fees, together with the Government Grant, have reached an aggregate considerably more than sufficient for defraying the salaries of the teachers; the former amounting to the sum of £6,606 2s 4d, while the sums paid in the form of salaries amounts only to £5,808 7s 2d, leaving a balance available for other purposes of £797 15s 2d.

2nd. That in Church of England schools 1,437 children attended at a cost of £4291 4s 11d, or about £3 for each child.

In Presbyterian schools 445 children at a cost of £1,523 0s 10d, or a little more than £3 8s each.

In Wesleyan schools 577 children at a cost of £1,808 5s 8d, or a little more than £3 2s each.

Thus *2459 children have attended the public schools of the province at a cost of £7,622 11s 5d, or an average of £3 2s for each child.

Taking however the average attendance during the same period which was 994, the cost of educating each child would appear to be about £7 13s.

The cost of education for each average scholar:

Such would appear to be substantially the results obtained from the returns furnished by the recipients of educational funds, but when these returns are tested by others furnished from an independent source, considerable doubt is thrown on their accuracy.

It appears for instance, from a return furnished to the Commission by the Provincial Treasurer, that the amounts paid out of the Provincial Treasury, to the different denominations on account of the Educational Grant, were:

For the Church of England, £2675; instead of £2563 7s. 2d., as given above.

For the Presbyterian Church, £887 10s; instead of £670.

For the Wesleyan Church, £812 10s; instead of £500 10s.—A difference, in the first case, of £111 12s. 10d.; second, £217 10s.; third, £312: in all, £641 2s. 10d.

Thus the expenditure of the schools given above as amounting to £7622 11s. 5d., should be increased by £641 2s. 10d. to £8263 14s. 3d.; raising the cost of the education of each child in average attendance from £7 13s. to about £8 4s.

There is still a third source of information, from which results are arrived at differing from either of those already mentioned.

From returns furnished by the Inspector of Schools it would appear that the total income of all schools receiving Government aid during the same period, exclusive of private subscriptions, that is from fees and Government grant, amounted to £7763 15s. 7¼d., of which £3051 5s. 7¼d. was derived from school fees, and the remainder, £4712 10s, from the Government grant.

Thus the three different statements as to the same fact, would stand as follows:—

I.—BY THE SCHOOL AUTHORITIES:

GOVERNMENT GRANT.

Church of England ... £2563 7 2
Presbyterian Church ... 670 0 0
Wesleyan Church ... 500 10 0
£3733 17 2

II.—BY THE PROVINCIAL TREASURER:

Church of England ... £2675 0 0
Presbyterian Church ... 887 10 0
Wesleyan Church ... 812 10 0
£4375 0 0

III.—BY THE GOVERNMENT INSPECTOR:

Total by Denominations ... £4712 10 0

The fees received during the same period, according to the statement, as given above, of the school authorities, amounted to £2872 5s. 2d; according to the Inspector, £3051 5s. 7¼d.

The Commission will not attempt to reconcile these conflicting statements, but it may perhaps be desirable to present shortly the results to be arrived at with regard to the income and principal item of expenditure, the salaries of teachers, in the schools now in existence.

The present grant from the Provincial Council is £5450, of which £350 forms the salary of the Inspector, and the remainder—£5100—is available for the maintenance of the schools.

The school fees amounted, according to the lowest of the statements given above, to £2872 during the year ending 31st December, 1862.

These two sums, forming a total of £7972, are then available for the maintenance of schools.

The salaries of teachers, as given above, amount in the aggregate to only £5808.

The difference between the receipts and aggregate of salaries—£2164—is the balance available for general purposes.

This calculation, however, does not represent the present state of the income, the amount received in fees having considerably increased since the period to which it applies, and therefore the balance would be greater in proportion.

It must of course be remembered that the above is only the result in the aggregate, which would be

*NOTE.—2,459 includes all the children whose names were on the books during the year ending 31st December, 1863, which is greater than the number in attendance at any particular date.