EDUCATION REPORT.

Extract from the Minutes of the Adjourned Half-Yearly Meeting of the Otago Education Board,
28th October, 1862.—The Meeting resumed consideration of the Secretary’s Report for the year ended September 30th, 1862. It was resolved,
that the Secretary’s Annual Report, together with his estimate of Expenditure for the current half-year, be forwarded to His Honor the Superintendent.

THE ANNUAL REPORT OF THE SECRETARY TO THE EDUCATION BOARD, 1861-62.

To His Honor Major Richardson,
Superintendent.

SIR—

I HAVE the honor to submit my Annual Report for the past year.

Operation of the New Education Ordinance.

In consequence of the disallowance by the General Government of the Education Ordinance, 1861, the changes in the arrangements for the administration of Educational affairs in this Province, which had been resolved on by your Honor and the Provincial Council, have been delayed for a period of twelve months. As the provisions of the recently enacted Education Ordinance, 1862, did not come into full operation until the 1st October, 1862, no opportunity has yet been afforded of judging of the success likely to attend the scheme of Public School Education now inaugurated. The Inspector of Schools, who has recently visited the different school districts, reports that there appears to be a determination on the part of the School Committees generally, fairly and efficiently to carry out the provisions of the new Ordinance.

Educational Districts.

Since the publication of last year’s report, the Education Board, after careful consideration of the subject in all its bearings, have resolved upon a definite scheme of adjustment of the different Educational Districts, and in pursuance of the provisions of the new Ordinance, a list of those districts, with the description of their respective boundaries, has been published in the Provincial Government Gazette. (See Vol. IV., No. 188, page 461.) In order to facilitate the labors of the School Committee, your Honor has been pleased to cause maps of the different Educational Districts to be prepared in the Government Survey Office. A supply of the forms and schedules required by the Ordinance will also forthwith be provided by the Board.

Number of Schools.

There are now nineteen Educational Districts established in the Province; in connection with which there have been sixteen Main Schools, and four Side Schools in operation during the whole or a portion of the past year. The Main Schools in the recently formed districts of North Dunedin, Caversham and Oamaru, to all of which duly qualified Masters have been appointed, will be opened in the course of a few days. No master has yet been appointed to the District School of Saddle Hill, in consequence of the want of suitable school buildings. The School of Anderson’s Bay, which has been conducted with considerable success for several years, is at present vacant, in consequence of the appointment of the former teacher to the Mastership of the adjoining district school of Caversham. All the other schools are at present provided with teachers.

School Attendance.

Appended to this report is a Tabular view of the Attendance at the different schools, and of the population, &c., of the several Educational Districts. (See Appendix B.) The classification of ages in the Census Returns of December, 1861, renders it impossible to ascertain precisely the number of children generally regarded as of school age, but a careful consideration of the subject has led to the belief that the columns in the Census Abstracts, which exhibit the number of children of the age of 6 and under 16 years, may be taken as showing the number of children that should be attending school. In December, 1861, the total population of the districts in which schools were in operation last year, was 12,579, while the number of children of school age was 2,295. The number of scholars who attended the Government schools last year for longer or shorter periods, was 1249; while the number in ordinary attendance last month, was 910. But from the Census Abstracts it appears that there were about 400 children within the Educational districts, who, in December, 1861, were receiving education privately, or were attending other than Government schools.

There are now several additional private schools established in Dunedin, but against this may be placed the consideration that the number of educable children in the Province, especially in Dunedin, must have considerably increased since December, 1861. It would thus appear that of the 2295 educable children within the limits of the existing educational districts, there were about 1310 in ordinary attendance at school in September.