generally. The committees attend to what may be termed the local wants of the school and advise the board as to teachers, and they conduct affairs generally in the school district.

The sum spent last year on primary education by grants to boards was £407,494 18s. 11d. There was other expenditure in the department, including the cost of administration, the total education vote being, including £34,617 11s. 2d. from reserves, £446,642 3s. 7d. There are 1,272 state primary schools in the colony, and 3,065 teachers. There are various church and private schools, but as these are not aided nor inspected by the State I omit the statistics referring to them. The teachers are graded and hold their certificate from the minister of education. There are nine ranks as follows:

The letters denote scholarship, while the figures denote success in practical teaching. No one can get the highest grade unless he is an M. A., with first or second class honors of some university recognized by the department. No one can get a B rank unless he is a B. A., and no one can get a C rank unless he has passed a certain examination equivalent at least to half of a graduate's degree. The children are admitted at 5 and may be kept at school till 15. The compulsory age, however, is 7 to 13. In order to show what is taught in elementary schools it will only be necessary to copy the sixth and highest standard. It is:

STANDARD VI.

1. Pass subjects.

Reading.-A book containing extracts from general literature; spelling and dictation suited to this stage.

Writing. The copying of tabulated matter showing bold head lines and marking distinctions, such as in letter-press require varieties of type (e. g., the copying of these printed standards or of a catalogue showing division into groups).

Arithmetic.-Vulgar and decimal fractions; interest and other commercial rules, such as discount, stocks, partnership, and exchange; the metric system of weights and measures, and calculations with pound, florin, cent, and mill; square root and simple cases of mensuration of surfaces; mental arithmetic generally. Composition.-Essay or letter.

Geography. The maps of Asia and North America. Work analogous to the work prescribed under the head of "Map of Europe" for Standard V. The map of the world; British possessions, their principal towns and leading products, with some knowledge of their relative importance and of the forms of government of the most important. Physical geography: The principal causes of difference of climate, with illustrations.

All the girls in any public school in which there is a mistress or assistant mistress shall learn needlework, and the inspector shall judge all other work done by the girls more leniently than that done by the boys in such a degree as would be implied in reducing by 10 per cent the minimum marks required for any examination pass. To secure full approval the needlework of the several classes must be according to the following programme:

Cutting out any plain garment and fixing it for a junior class; darning stockings (fine and coarse) in worsted or cotton; grafting; darning fiue linen or calico; patching the same; darning and patching fine diaper.

If knitting is learned it shall be in the following order: A strip of plain knitting; knitted muffatees, ribbed; a plain knitted child's sock; a long ribbed stocking.

Additional subjects.

Recitation.-A list of pieces learnt, and one piece (or more) specially prepared for the examination.

Singing.-Easy exercise on the chords of the dominant and subdominant; exercises in triple time; use of dotted notes; melodies, rounds, and part songs, in common with the higher standards.

This system was inaugurated in 1877. Previous to that year there had been different systems in different provincial districts, for since the year 1853 down to the end of 1876 there existed in New Zealand a modified federal form of government called the Provincial system. There were originally six provinces, but these were ultimately enlarged to nine, and it may be well to give the kind of education in existence under the Provincial system. It was as follows:

The board generally consisted of the superintendent and his executive, that was the governor of federal state or province. Aids to private schools were given in Hawkes Bay, Nelson, Marlborough, Taranaki, Wellington, and Westland.