he Committee of Management has pleasure in laying the Fourteenth Annual Report of the Institute before members. Five Ordinary and three Special Meetings have been held during the year, and the attendance has been very satisfactory, the average attendance being eight.

Mr. G. H. Smith, for several years a member of the Committee, left for Victoria last month. The Committee regret Mr Smith's departure, as he was an active and useful member of the Committee, and one who always took a lively interest in the affairs of the Institute.

Meeting of Council of the N.Z. Educational Institute.

The Meeting of the Council of the N.Z. Educational Institute was held at Auckland on June 6th and following days. The Delegates from the Otago Educational Institute were Messrs W. S. Fitzgerald, G. A. Simmers, James Jeffery, C. Mahoney and W. J. Moore. Copies of the report of the meeting of Council will be supplied to Members of the Institute at the Annual Meeting.

As the travelling expenses of Delegates were much heavier than usual this year, the Committee made a special effort to raise a fund to pay part of the expenses. A circular was issued to each member of the Institute asking for a subscription of 5s. towards Delegates' expenses. In response to this circular, the sum of £16 10s. was forwarded to the Committee, thus enabling it to pay to each of the five delegates the sum of £4 8s. Delegates this year also received a share of the £60 granted by the Minister of Education for travelling expenses.

The attention of members is particularly directed to the amendment of the constitution of the Educational Institute of New Zealand page 5 with regard to:—(i) The number of representatives a district is entitled to send to a General Council Meeting (Resolution 10, p. 16). (2) The increase of 4s. 6d. on each member's subscription necessitated by resolutions 12 and 15. (3) The appointment of an Executive, consisting of the officers of the Institute and three others chosen by the Council. The three for this year are Messrs White, Watson, and McMorran.

Reduction of Salaries and Bonuses.

The Education Board, in the early part of the year, proposed to make considerable reductions in teachers' salaries by the abolition or reduction of bonuses.

The Committee of Management drew up a report on the working and incidence of the bonus system and sent it to the Board for their consideration. The report referred to is printed as an appendix to this report. As a result of their deliberations the Board, while disavowing any intention of reducing teachers' salaries, resolved to alter the system by cutting off the bonuses from all teachers below Division II. of their class, and by reducing the amount of the remaining bonuses by one-fourth. Considering that the reductions have very seriously affected many teachers whose salaries were already small, the Committee hope that the Board will make some arrangement whereby those salaries will not be permanently reduced.

The extent of reduction in the smaller salaries by the abolition of bonuses is shown approximately by the following figures:—Four teachers lose £30 each; six teachers lose £20 each; sixty-seven teachers lose £10 each Almost all the salaries affected as above are under £200 per annum.

The Committee of Management hope that teachers who are interested in this matter will make a point of attending the Annual Meeting, when this matter will be discussed.

In connection with these financial arrangements, the Committee cannot overlook the fact that whilst teachers' salaries have been considerably reduced during recent years, it has at the same time been deemed advisable to increase the salary of some of the Board's officers.

The Committee do not call attention to this fact in any spirit of dissatisfaction with the increase itself. The Institute, however, is of opinion that any policy of increase or retrenchment should be made to apply to every branch of the service.

The 'Auckland Herald' Article.

A communication was received from the Hon. the Minister of Education, drawing the attention of the Institute to a leading page 6 article which appeared in the 'Auckland Herald' of February 7th, 1891. This article, as members are no doubt aware, condemned very strongly the education system of the colony. In connection with this matter the Committee of Management drew up the following resolutions and forwarded them to the Minister of Education:—

1.	"The Committee of Management of the Educational Institute of Otago desire to thank the Minister of Education for his courtesy in submitting to them the leading article which appeared in the 'Auckland Herald' of February 7th, 1891."
2.	"They are of opinion: (a) That since its inauguration the New Zealand educational system has had a wide and lasting influence for good on the youth of the colony; and that, though not perfect in all its details, it compares very favourably with the educational systems of Great Britain and the neighbouring colonies. (b) That the criticisms in the article referred to are expressed in extravagant language, and are based, not on a wide and intimate knowledge of the educational system, but on supposed facts of a more or less exceptional nature."
3.	"They would respectfully call the attention of the Minister to the fact that they have from time to time through the Council of the N.Z. Educational Institute suggested improvements in detail with regard to the syllabus and other matters, and that the adoption of these suggestions would go far to remove any real defects that may exist in the educational system."

Interview of the Executive with the Hon. the Minister of Education.

The Executive of the General Institute being about to interview the Minister of Education on business transacted by the Council, Mr White, a member of the Executive, went to Wellington at the urgent request of the Committee and at considerable personal inconvenience, to take part in the interview with the Minister.

The Executive brought under the notice of the Minister the question of the Standards, a Court of Appeal for Teachers, and the alleged appropriation by certain Education Boards of the capitation allowance for the purpose of erecting school buildings.

It is understood that the Minister of Education has in preparation an amended syllabus, which it is believed will be to hand in time for discussion at the Annual Meeting of the Educational Institute of Otago.

The Education System.

The Committee of Management consider that the influencing of public opinion in matters connected with the Education system is a very important part of the work of the Institute. During the year a Sub-Committee was appointed to watch the interests of education at the time of the general election.

This Committee issued a circular to Otago candidates for a seat in Parliament, and had the replies sent by candidates published in the local newspapers. A copy of this circular is printed in Appendix B. In this and in other ways the Committee succeeded in bringing the education question prominently before electors.

Branch Reports.

Branch reports from Dunedin, Waitaki, Milton and Balclutha are attached.

The Committee are pleased to note that the Balclutha Branch has been re-opened, and that increased interest has been taken in the work of some of the other branches. In some cases joint meetings of two of the country branches have been held, and the Committee think that an extension of this plan would be very beneficial in maintaining a cordial feeling among teachers, and in increasing the usefulness of the Institute.

Annual Meeting.

The Committee has fixed the Annual Meeting for the 7th, 8th, and 9th July, 1891. The Education Board has courteously sent out a circular to School Committees notifying the date of meeting. As the date fixed coincides with the midwinter vacation at the University of Otago, and at the Dunedin High Schools, the Committee hope to see a large attendance of members.