NELSON GOVERNMENT GAZETTE.

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higher, a result that would be disastrous to our system. But, after allowing for salaries, books, school-fittings, and repairs of buildings, absolutely nothing is left for the building and maintenance of new schools. For several years our list of schools has been added to at the rate of four or five annually, and this too, usually in outlying districts, where the expense is out of all proportion to the increased revenue derivable from rates. The most unobjectionable way of providing for these inevitable claims, partly at least, is, I think, to make use of the 16th clause of the Education Act, which authorises two-thirds of the householders in any district to request the Superintendent to levy a special rate for the purpose of erecting schools or paying teachers. In default of this, the only alternative seems to be a resort to school fees, which would require an alteration in the existing Education Act, and the introduction of which I should deeply regret, on many grounds. Should neither of these expedients for increasing the income of the Board be adopted, it would seem that our system has now reached its limits, and must, as it were, hide-bound. For, sooner or later, however rigidly retrenchment may be carried out—and it will be difficult to go much further in that direction without seriously impairing the efficiency of our whole system—all applications for adding to the number of our Educational districts, for building new schools, or even for enlarging those already built, must be refused, unless some means are devised whereby a considerable annual addition can be made to the income of the Board.

Cost of educating each Scholar.—Taking the average daily attendance, and including the expenditure on new buildings and sites, the cost per head during the past year has been £4 1s. Compared with the cost in other provinces and colonies where the population is denser, and where, therefore, the expenditure might fairly be expected to be proportionately less, this appears to be a very moderate rate of outlay. In Otago, for instance, where the numbers attending each school are much larger than in Nelson, the cost per head is £4 6s. 3d. And even under the admirably organised system of Victoria, where the average attendance, taken at 207 schools, was 106, against 37 only in each Nelson school, I find that the cost per head, exclusive of inspection and general management, was £3 14s in 1871. And yet it is claimed for the Victorian system in the last report issued by its Board of Education, that it is cheaper by at least one-half than the systems in force in the United States and Canada. To show how largely the size of each school, or, in other words, the density of the population, affects the question of cost per head, I may point out that the cost per head in 7 town schools in Nelson, where the average number in attendance is 78, amounts to £2 15s. 3d. only.

School Rules and Discipline.—The rules for school management laid down by the Board have been complied with pretty generally, and the behaviour of the scholars is manifestly better than it was, throughout our schools. I have reason to believe, also, that the most strenuous efforts have been made by our teachers to check the use of bad language, formerly so prevalent, and that these efforts have met with a fair measure of success.

Holidays.—My recommendation that the holidays throughout the Province should be made of uniform length has been very partially adopted, and much dissatisfaction prevails among teachers in consequence of the irregularities of the present system. I still believe that, even putting aside altogether the welfare of the teachers, the scholars themselves would be in every respect the gainers if a month were allowed in summer, and a fortnight in winter. Occasional holidays, however, which do but little good to either teachers or pupils, are becoming rather too frequent.

Class Registers.—I find that there are still several schools in which no record of the progress and standing of each scholar in the upper classes is kept. I trust that I shall not find it necessary again to point out so inexcusable an omission. Hitherto I have usually refused to examine for prizes in schools where there is no class register. Were local examiners to observe a similar rule, properly kept records would become universal.

Small Schools and the Half-time system.—It is by no means easy to deal satisfactorily with the question of small schools, the number of which, in the out-districts, is annually increasing. We have now ten schools in which the average daily attendance is under 20, and several applications for new schools of the same class may be expected during the year. The salary allowed for a school of this kind (£60 per annum without a house), though high enough when the cost of each pupil is considered, is obviously too low, as a rule, to command the services of an experienced master. This difficulty has been overcome in several ways. Either the appointment has been given to a young man who has had some training as a pupil-teacher, and who thus be fitting himself for the duties of a larger school; or a competent mistress has been appointed. The most objectionable dealing with these cases is to employ married men with families. Such appointments inevitably lead to dissatisfaction, to frequent changes, or to perpetual applications to the Board for increase of salary, which, if acceded to, would ultimately put a stop to the opening of new schools of this class altogether. Where the services of a probationer or of a mistress cannot be obtained, I would recommend the adoption of the half-time system, provided the schools are not too far apart. This plan is already working fairly well in two instances, as will be shown below in my detailed report, and I see no reason why it should not be tried more extensively.

It will not be amiss to preface a general estimate of the effectiveness with which the various branches attempted in our schools are really taught, with a clear statement of the kind and amount of work that such institutions may fairly be expected to perform. I believe that this question is grievously misunderstood, not only by the general public, but by writers on education, and above all, by the authors of what are called "Elementary School-books." It needs only a cursory inspection of the pages of the former, or of the questions set and the rules given by the latter to show that they proceed upon the false assumption that children will attend our common schools with regularity until they are 14 or 15 years old. Our text-books on every subject are consequently drawn up on a scale ludicrously disproportionate to the actual requirements of elementary schools. The problem really before the teacher of a provincial school is how to give such an amount of instruction as is most likely, not only to exercise the thinking faculties, but to abide most permanently in the memories of scholars who attend school hardly more than three-fifths of their time, and whose school life usually ceases as soon as they have attained their twelfth year. Everything the teacher does must be subordinated to these conditions. Hence the number of subjects to be taught must be strictly limited. For this reason I have never encouraged the introduction of music, drawing, and other branches, which however desirable they might be under different circumstances, would at present be likely to crowd out something still more essential from the time-table.