Annual examinations. 35. The annual general examination of teachers throughout the colony was December, 189. held in December. There were 38 examining centres, of which 10 were in charge of the district inspectors, and 28 in charge of the local police magistrates (or their deputies) assisted by school committees. The number of examinees was 535, which was 136 more than the number of those who sat in 1895. This includes . 75 examinees who were employed in Roman Catholic schools. Details of the examination are given in the following table : Schools inspected. Staff inadequat On Primary, Secondary, and Compared with 1895. The examination for Class II. and Class I. may be taken by instalments from year to year, and generally are so taken. The passes here recorded are for the completed examinations only. INSPECTIONS. 36. The total number of inspections accomplished by the 10 district inspectors (exclusive of incidental visits and special inquiries) was 823, of which 804 were detailed inspections and 19 were supplementary inspections of schools which had been examined in detail at an earlier period of the year. From unavoidable causes twenty-seven of the schools open at some time during the year were not inspected. Forty-nine detailed inspections were made of Roman Catholic and other schools not under the control of the Department. 37. The pressure of work in the General Inspector's office was such that he was not able to visit any schools during the year. The district inspectors were fully occupied all the year, and yet 27 schools had to go without inspection, while the number of second inspections was only 19. In 1895 only 8 schools were omitted, while the second inspections amounted to 152. It is clear that the present staff is numerically inadequate for the complete and satisfactory inspection of the schools, and arrangements have been made for the appointment of an additional inspector from the beginning of 1897. The Annual General Reports of the inspectors are appended. EXPENDITURE. 38. The expenditure on Primary Education was £192,074 17s. On Grammar Schools and University Education it was £13,713 11s. 9d. On Technical Education, the Museum, and Schools of Arts it was £5,974 14s. 1d. The whole sum spent on Education was £211,763 2s. 10d., being £7,502 13s. 5d. more than was spent in 1895. 39. In the following tabular statement the gross departmental expenditure in 1896 is compared in detail with that in 1895: PERCENTAGE OF PASSES, 1895. increase. 40. In the following tabular statement is given an analysis of the increase in Items of the expenditure on Primary Education alone :- and provisional 41. Of £192,074 17s., the total cost of Primary Education, £156,181 12s. 8d., Cost of State must be charged to the State schools, and £35,893 4s. 4d. to the provisional schools. schools. 42. The cost of administration was £5,162 3s. 4d., or about 2-4 per cent. of Administration. gross departmental expenditure. the 43. The cost of inspection was £5,910 18s. 2d., or a little over 3 per cent. of Inspection. the expenditure on Primary Education alone. State schools. 44. In State schools the average cost per head during the twenty-one years Cost per head in ending 31st December, 1896, was as follows: 45. In provisional schools the average cost per head during the twenty-one Cost per head in years ending 31st December, 1996, was as follows: Year. Based on the Based on the provisional schools. Based on the 1887 ... 1877 1 16 9 2 4 71 3 4. 1888 1889 1890 2 7 8 2 16 10 3 17 41 1880 2 1 14 46. For all schools-State and provisional-the total expenditure on Primary Cost per head Education, £192,074 17s., divided by the average daily attendance, 54,316, gives based on average £3 10s. 8d. as the average cost of each pupil in attendance all over the service. In 1895 it was £3 16s. 91d. attendance. Cost per head in all schools based on net enrolment. Local subscriptions 47. For all schools-State and provisional-the total expenditure on primary education, £192,074 17s., divided by the net enrolment, 81,754, gives £2 6s. 112d. as the average cost of each child who claimed the right to instruction during the year 1896. In 1895 it was £2 9s. 8d. 48. The local contributions towards the cost of State school buildings received received in 1996. during the year 1896 amounted to £2,905 6s. 2d. A statement of the local subscription account is given in Table M appended to this Report. Candidates examined. GRAMMAR SCHOOL SCHOLARSHIPS. 49. At the Annual Examinations held in December, 1896, 68 schools sent up 188 boys, and 39 schools sent up 91 girls, to compete for Grammar School Scholarships. Of these candidates, 95 boys and 33 girls were successful in obtaining scholarships. In the following tabular summary the numbers for 1896 are compared with those for 1895: Scholarship holders, how allotted. 50. The 128 scholarships granted were allotted to the several Grammar Schools as follows: State scholars in Grammar 51. The total number of State scholars attending Grammar Schools during the Schools at the last quarter of the year was 231, of whom 169 were boys and 62 girls, as tabulated end of 1896. Conduct and progress of State scholars. Nine competitors. Three of these were girls. 52. With rare exceptions the quarterly reports from the heads of the Grammar Schools on the attendance, conduct, and progress of the State scholars were satisfactory. EXHIBITIONS TO UNIVERSITIES. 53. The usual examination for Exhibitions to Universities to be awarded to pupils of Grammar Schools was held in November, 1896, when 9 candidates presented themselves-3 from Brisbane, 3 from Ipswich, 2 from Toowoomba, and 1 from Maryborough. Three of these candidates showed sufficient merit to entitle them to the award of an exhibition, two of them being pupils of the Brisbane Grammar School and one a pupil of the Toowoomba Grammar School. Two of the three had been holders of Grammar School scholarships from the State schools. For the first time since 1878, when these exhibitions were instituted, a female candidate entered as a competitor. She was successful in obtaining an exhibition, taking first place in the competition. State schools. 54. Of the 57 exhibitions granted from the year 1878, when they were first Number won by established, to 1896, 42 have been gained by students who had previously won scholarships from the State schools. ORPHANAGES. Inspector. 55. The Inspector of Orphanages has furnished a separate report of the Report of operations of the Department in connection with the State and licensed orphanages. At the end of the year there were 1,628 children under the control of the Statean increase of 9 for the year. The expenditure for 1896 amounted to £21,780 5s. 6d. -an increase of £338 12s. 3d. on the expenditure for the preceding year. 56. The distribution of the children is shown in the following table : Distribution of orphans. 57. It is with much regret that I have to mention the death of Mr. Horrocks, the Inspector of Orphanages, in October. Mr. Horrocks entered upon his office in 1884, and during the twelve years of his service he was unremitting in his attention to his duties and zealous in the discharge of them. THE MUSEUM. 58. From the report of the trustees of the Museum it appears that the number of visitors during 1896 was 60,331-viz., 43,524 on week days and 16,807 on Sundays. This is an increase of 5,665 on the number recorded for the previous year. The Museum was open on 266 week days and 52 Sundays, and the average number of visitors per day was 190. The total expenditure on the Museum was £783 4s. 8d., showing an increase of £49 19s. 10d. on the expenditure for 1895. APPENDICES. 59. The tables which follow this Report show in detail the operations of the Tables. Department during the year. The following is a list of the Appendices : Report of the General Inspector. Reports of the District Inspectors. Report on the system of superior schools, New South Wales. Reports. Examination papers given in December, 1896, to candidates for Grammar Examination papers. Department of Public Instruction, 3rd May, 1897. [L.S.] D. H. DALRYMPLE. COMPARATIVE VIEW of PRIMARY SCHOOL OPERATIONS during TWENTY successive YEARS, 1877-96. 1877 1878 ... 286 220 1879... 319 252 1880... 1882... 1883... 305 235 74 345 275 366 285 387 1884... 424 321 1885... 447 333 108 113 266 160 98 102 211 252 142 100 194 776 19,952 18,694 38,646 15,023 13,977. 29,000 10,501 29,080 60,962 23,815 21,189 45,004 NOTE.-After the 31st day of July, 1893, children under six years of age have not been admitted. |