The Graded Schools in this District have been conducted in their usual efficient manner. The same teachers, with one exception, have been retained as principals of these schools. In No. 24, Salisbury, Alex. Heron, was succeeded by Mr. Ralph Colpitts, A. B., who took charge of the school 1st May. In the town of Moncton the same staff of teachers have been retained, and excellent results crown their labours. The Grammar School of Albert County has been, during the year, successfully conducted by Mr. N. Duffy, A. B. The Westmoreland County Teachers' Institute was held at Shediac, in July, and the Albert County Teachers' Institute, at Hillsboro, in August. INSPECTOR DOLE.-District No. 5. There is no very important change in the general condition of the schools in this Inspectoral District to be reported this year, except the changes which have resulted, or rather, will necessarily result, from the recent alterations in the School Law. I cannot say that there have been any great or marked improvements made in the Districts in which improvements are most required; and there has certainly been no falling off in any respect, in those places in which the schools have been in former years noted as efficient and prosperous. A few new schools have been organized in Districts which had been for a long time without any means of giving public instruction to the children living in them. At Dipper Harbor, No. 7, in the Parish of Musquash, a school, opened late last year, has been kept in operation during the whole of the present year, and the trustees are now making preparations for the erection of a new school-house, upon a better site than that occupied by the existing old and incommodious building. I urged this undertaking upon the Trustees, and have sanctioned the selection they have made of a situation for the proposed new building. They have chosen a spot upon grounds they own in the central part of the District, and not far from the present school-house,-which stands in a very much exposed and very unwholesome position. When some progress shall have been made in the work, an application will be presented to the Board of Education for a grant in aid of the completion of it. A 'similar application will, no doubt, before long be sent in from the adjoining District of Chance Harbor, No. 8, in the same Parish- a District in which there has been no school established, or open at all, for several years. Quite recently a Board of Trustees has been elected and an effort made to provide for the educational wants of the neighbourhood, which cannot be suffered to remian uncared for any longer. These are both sparsely settled and comparatively poor Districts, and will stand in need of all the assistance from the Provincial Treasury that can justly be extended to them. In the Parish of Lancaster, too, at Spruce Lake, District, No. 4, where there has been no school since I came into office, efforts are now being made to effect a school organization and to secure the services of a competent teacher. For the present, it is proposed to open the school in a room which the Directors of the Grand Southern Railway Company have kindly allowed to be used for that purpose. But a new school house will soon have to be put up in this District, in which there has been no such building at all for many years. The steps now being taking are due to the introduction of two or three families who have recently come to reside in this vicinity. In the Marsh Road, District No. 1, Parish of Simonds, a large, well-built and commodious school-house has been put up, near the place in which one of the schools of the District was formerly kept. The great improvement thus brought about, mainly by the energy and prudence of the present trustees-Messrs. G. G. Gilbert, D. McEvoy and James Kenney, is highly creditable to all concerned in it. And in Willow Grove District, No. 16, in the same parish, in which the old school-house has become almost entirely unfit for use, the trustees and the ratepayers, generally, have determined to put up a new building, which they intend to place in a position more pleasant and, at the same time, more really central than that occupied by the old one. I made a special visit to this District recently, for the express purpose of examining the different sites proposed; and a selection of a situation was made which will be a very advantageous one, if the land required can be readily purchased at a reasonable price. From this District, also, a call upon the Board of Education for a grant in aid of their building may shortly be expected. The Board of Trusteees for the City of St. John, have, as you are aware, just completed another fine building, which will accommodate all the schools in the northeastern section of the city, most of which now carry on their work in very inconvenient apartments. This large new school-house, built of brick and stone, and after an excellent plan, is so situated, upon the extensive plot of land between Brussel street and Waterloo street, which the trustees purchased a little more than a year ago, that it will afford to all the schools brought together in it an abundance of unobstructed light, a good and constant supply of pure air, and considerable room for play-grounds. regard the establishment of this happily-named CENTENNIAL SCHOOL as one of the most prudent and praiseworthy steps lately taken by the St. John Trustees in the discharge of their many and weighty duties. I Since my last Annual Report was rendered, two school-houses, in the adjoining Districts of Milkish, No. 10, and Bay View, No. 13, in the Parish of Westfield, King's County, have been destroyed by fire. The loss has fallen rather heavily on both Districts, although in Milkish, where the building destroyed was a good and comfortable one, arrangements have been made for the erection of another sufficient schoolhouse. At Bay View no steps have, so far as I am informed, yet been taken towards that end. During the Summer Term the school was kept in an old house, in rooms which, if left as they were at the time of my visit, would not be fit for occupation during the winter. From both these Districts, however, may be expected other demands for a reasonable amount of aid in the work of replacing their school-buildings. In The improvements I have mentioned-accomplished or projected are, perhaps, the principal signs of a continued and lively interest in the education of the young, which have been observable in this Inspectoral District within the past year. other respects, the state of educational affairs has remained, as nearly as possible, what it has been for some considerable time. There are still to be met in most of the country Districts the same difficulties and obstacles in the way towards a general improvement which have been so long experienced and so fully recognized. It is still as difficult as ever to secure the choice of fit and proper persons to serve in the office of Trustees. There are still, constantly recurring, the same disputes in regard to the boundaries of Districts, the same urgent claims for exemption from taxation, the same irregularities in the making of assessments, and the same delays and obstructions in the collection of the rates imposed. There are, too, still the same frequent blunders and occasional defaults on the part of Trustees and their secrataries. And there still occur, in not a few Districts, quarrels and expensive lawsuits, arising out of causes which are, in themselves, often trivial. All these obstructions and troubles are great hindrances to the proper and effectual prosecution of the work of education on the part of teachers and of all other officers engaged in it. No small portion of the time of an Inspector is taken up in efforts, often ineffectual and vain, to compose petty quarrels and to prevent the bad consequences resulting from them. These matters have been spoken of at some length in my former Annual Reports, especially in that for the year 1881. The present provisions of the School Law appear to be still, as was at that time urged by me, inadequate to supply remedies for these generally acknowledged defects, and to put an end to these frequent troubles. It seems not to be any part of the duties of an Inspector to suggest such amendments or alterations in the laws as would, in his judgment, remove these difficulties, and provide a better basis for the general administration of school affairs. At least it would appear that he is not asked, nor is it expected of him, in his Annual Report, to offer, unsolicited, any suggestions having that object in view. But I cannot easily refrain from reiterating the opinion-expressed more than once in former Reports-that the only effectual means of obviating the continually occurring and very serious difficulties and hinderances which I have herein briefly indicated, would be the abolition of all the existing small school Districts, with all their petty local machinery, and the organization of large Districts, to be governed and controlled by Boards of Trustees, or Commissioners, invested with extensive powers. For a synopsis of my views upon this point-if it should be deemed advisable now to consider them at all—and for an outline of the amendments, or changes, I would propose to have made in the School Laws,† I take the liberty to again refer to my Report for 1881, and particularly to that portion of it, which was not printed in the Appendix to the Chief Superintendent's Report for that year, and which has never been published in any form. The main features of the plan I then submitted are still, in my humble opinion, those of a scheme best adapted to the improvement of the administration of the concerns of our common schools and to the promotion of their efficiency in every respect. The irregularity in the attendance of pupils which prevails, uphappily, throughout so large a portion of the schools, especially in country Districts, arising, as it does, from a variety of causes, is a subject with which it is extremely hard to deal. A great many different reasons are assigned by parents, at different times and in different places, for keeping their children away from school. Even those who appear rather anxious that their families should enjoy the benefits of education, will plead the necessity of employing at certain seasons all their children who are large enough and strong enough to bear any part in the labors the parents have to perform. In some places, the little ones are set to do the work that has to be done in cultivated fields, or, at certain seasons, on the untilled tracts where wild berries grow. In other places they are called on to assist in the taking and curing of fish. Almost everywhere, some occupation or other is found which draws, or keeps them away from school, just at that very part of their lives which ought, in any just and fair arrangement of things, to be devoted solely to the healthy developement of their bodily organs and their mental faculties. In the cities and towns the evil of irregular attendance is not so prevalent. Yet even there it forms a serious impediment to regular and steady progress in nearly all the schools. Indeed, so universal and apparent is the mischief arising from this source, that many persons, both in town and country, join in making a strong demand that some stringent enactments should be passed, compelling parents to send their children regularly to the schools provided so freely for them at the expense of all,-including those who, having no children of their own, cannot directly share the benefits and advantages the schools afford to others. There is a great deal of reasonableness in this demand, which is usually most urgently made by men who are found among the payers of the heaviest rates. Perhaps it might be practicable, at least in the cities of St. John, Portland, and Fredericton, and in such towns as Moncton, St. Andrews and St. Stephen, to enforce provisions for the compulsory attendence of pupils, similar to those which, for several years, have been carried into effect in England, or those which have long been in operation in some of the United States of America. Elsewhere, I am persuaded, the enforcement would be much more difficult. And even in the cities and towns and larger villages, the unavoidable expense which would be occasioned by any such legal enactments would form a serious objection, if not, at least for the present, + Inspectors have been required since 1879 by Reg. 41, (8) of the Board of Education, to communicate to the Chief Superintendent in a Special Report, any suggestions which they may desire to offer, with a view to improvement of the School System.-W. C. an insuperable obstacle in the way of their administration. It may, however, be an experiment worthy of a trial; and there is, unquestionably, a widely spread and rather strong sentiment in favor of some such measure. In the cities of Saint John and Portland the schools, generally, have maintained the high character they long since gained for efficiency and usefullness. During the year, the teachers in these Districts, as a body, have done their work with all their accustomed energy and zeal; and they fully deserve the appreciative regard bestowed upon them by the citizens whom they serve. I have recently sent in to the respective Boards of Trustees in both cities full and detailed reports upon the condition of the schools under their charge, and have therein particularly pointed out the wants which, in my opinion, should be speedily supplied, and the defects which ought, as soon as possible, to be removed. Among the wants, which I have specified to them as calling for immediate consideration, and an early remedy, is the want, in both cities, of anything like large and proper Play-grounds, for the use of the pupils, especially of the boys, attending the public schools. And I hope to see such a remedy provided in a liberal manner before the lapse of any great length of time. The broad views entertained, and the generous spirit displayed by the St. John Trustees in regard to the erection of School-Buildings, affords sure ground for that hope. And the spirit of liberality by which they have been actuated in that respect can hardly fail to be communicated to the Trustees for the adjacent City of Portland. Another matter of general interest and importance, to which I have directed the attention of these Boards of Trustees, is the necessity which exists for the establishment in each place of a real High School, one which should deserve the name, and should have its home in a suitable building. Perhaps one such institution might be so organized and so situated as to meet the requirements of the whole community residing near the mouth of the river St. John. But it is clear that no adequate provision for those requirements exists at present in this vicinity. The views upon this subject which I have recorded in my former Annual Reports remain unchanged. I shall not now give further expression to them, or offer any fresh remarks in reference to the Grammar School or the Girls' High School-the inspection of which will not, hereafter, constitute a part of my duties. In the course of the past year 321 pupils, presented in 41 schools within this Inspectoral District, have come up for examination as candidates for participation; in the Superior Allowance. Of these 273 were passed as duly qualified. The increase in the number of candidates put forward and in the number of schools represented, was to be expected, from the circumstance, mainly, that this was the last occasion on which the fund was to be distributed under the method then in force. The pupils were presented in the Districts and by the teachers mentioned below, namely: St. Peter's Hall Parish of Lancaster. Fairville, No, 2 66 Manawagonish, No. 3 66 Frog Pond, No. 2 Parish of St. Martins. Hanford Brook, No. 10 a Jones' Creek, No. 3 Parish of Upham, K. C. Parish of Hammond, K. C. Kate S. Hopkins 66 3 66 66 Emma L. Clark 66 Charlotte B. Barton Louisa B. Bean 66 66 Wm. C. Burnham A good deal of time was necessarily spent in the special examinations of this large number of pupils; and the amount of labour, as well as the responsibility, which such work imposes upon an examiner is by no means inconsiderable. Indeed, no one except the Inspectors, who have had to perform it, has any just idea of the character and extent of this particular duty. In conclusion, I beg to say in brief terms that, while there remains much to be done in order to render our Common Schools as good, as efficient, and as widely useful as the patriotic advocates of a sound education for all classes of the people may desire, the work which they are doing throughout the Province entitles them to a still more liberal support than they now receive. Of the teachers whose schools I have visited and inspected, I have only to repeat this year, respecting the great majority of them, the words of approval and commendation which I have used in former years. |