OCT. 17.] THE NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE. 2657

in force relating to free places, and with the like advice and consent doth prescribe that this Order shall come into force on the date of publication hereof in the New Zealand Gazette.

SCHEDULE.

THE regulations relating to free places made by Order in Council dated 19th December, 1922, and amended by Orders in Council dated 9th July, 1923; 10th September, 1923; 1st September, 1924; 1st November, 1926; 22nd August, 1927; and 13th December, 1927, are hereby further amended as follows :—

1. By deleting clauses 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 18, 22, 23, 24, and 25, and substituting the following therefor :—

2. In these regulations public post-primary school includes any secondary school, technical high school, technical school, district high school, or junior high school.

3. Subject to the limitations hereinafter provided, a pupil shall be qualified to be a junior free pupil or the holder of a junior free place in any public post-primary school if—

(a) He is the holder of a junior national scholarship or any other scholarship that the Minister of Education shall approve for this purpose ;

(b) He has qualified for a free place in the junior national scholarship examination on such pass conditions as the Minister of Education may from time to time determine;

(c) He has gained a certificate of proficiency;

(d) He has obtained a certificate of competency ;

(e) He is over fourteen years of age, and has been in regular attendance at a public school up to a date not more than six months prior to the date of admission to a free place : Provided that the lapse of a longer period than six months shall not be held to be a bar if the Director of Education is satisfied that the pupil was unable sooner to take advantage of his free place.

3. The course of post-primary instruction that shall be given to a pupil admitted to a junior free place in a post-primary school shall, subject to the approval of the Director of Education, be determined by the Principal of such school after consultation with the parents of the pupil and after consideration of the pupil's aptitudes and capacities as revealed by the entries on the pupil's primary school progress-card. The programme of each free pupil shall consist not of a number of disconnected subjects but of a group of subjects, duly arranged in accordance with the pupil's capacities, surroundings, and probable future calling, as far as such a programme can be provided for with regard to the general circumstances of the school.

4. (1) Pupils who are admitted to free places on the qualification described in paragraph (d) of clause 2 hereof must take a course of instruction approved by the Director of Education, and may hold their free places only in technical high schools, technical schools, junior high schools, and in such district high schools and secondary schools as are approved for the purpose by the Director of Education.

(2) A pupil who is not qualified to hold a junior free place except under paragraph (e) of clause 2 hereof may hold his free place only in a technical high school or in a technical school, and shall take a course of instruction approved by the Director of Education.

5. Except in the case of evening classes at a technical school, no pupil shall be admitted to a junior free place after he has reached the age of sixteen years, unless the consent of the Director of Education has been previously obtained.

5A. (1) A junior free place shall be tenable at a public post-primary school for two years from the 1st January preceding the actual date on which the holder is admitted as a free pupil, or, except in the case of a free place held at evening technical classes, until the 31st December in the year in which the holder reaches seventeen years of age, whichever may be the shorter period. In the case of a holder who was under thirteen years of age on the 31st December of the year in which he obtained his certificate of proficiency or equivalent qualification the tenure of the junior free place may, on the recommendation of the Principal of the school, be extended to a third year.

(2) (a) In general a junior free place shall not be tenable or continue to be tenable unless the holder is prepared to attend for full time instruction.

(b) Pupils who are qualified to hold junior free places and are engaged in regular employment may attend for part-time instruction in technical