in each year, to bring forward a total of the columns for " expenses of maintenance," and a total of the several columns of receipts so far as they apply to the maintenance of schools, for the months from the end of the school year to the 29th September, when the book is closed and balanced.

These totals and the totals at the end of the school year being subsidiary to the totals for the board's year (Michaelmas), should be entered in red ink, and in the column for "particulars" the words "Total for the school year ended should be

entered.

53. The vouchers in support of the receipts and payments should bear numbers corresponding to the numbers in the cash book, and should be kept in numerical order for the purpose of reference.

54. This book is intended for school boards in small districts, whose expenditure would be mainly confined to the maintenance of the school provided by them.

SCHOOL BOARDS COMBINED UNDER SECTION 52 OF THE

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION ACT, 1870.

55. When two or more school boards combine for all purposes, their accounts may be kept in common. (See Article 16 of the Accounts Order.)

56. When the school boards of any two or more districts combine for any purpose or purposes, and the agreement provides for the appointment of a joint body of managers, such managers must render accounts to the school board whose school fund is charged with the expenditure incurred in providing and maintaining the school accommodation specified in the agreement (Accounts Order, Article 17).

57. These accounts must be rendered to the school board for the period ending at Lady Day and at Michaelmas, or if the school board belongs to the class mentioned in Article 5 of these Instructions, at Michaelmas only, and, in either case, at the end of the school year. (New Code, Article 13.)

No form of balance sheet has been prescribed, but in the majority of cases the form for school treasurer's balance sheet (Schedule D.) would suffice.

58. No form of account book has been prescribed for the use of a joint body of managers, but the cash book in the alternative form (Accounts Order, Schedule A.) would probably meet the requirements of such managers.

59. The accounts rendered to the school board should be supported by vouchers, and such vouchers, as well as the minute book of the managers containing the authorities for the receipts and expenditure included in such accounts, should be laid before the district auditor at the time of the audit.

CERTIFIED EFFICIENT SCHOOLS.

INSTRUCTIONS AND RULES OF EDUCATION Department.

Circular Letter to H.M. Inspectors of Schools.

EDUCATION Department, Whitehall, S. W., 26th August, 1890. SIR, I am directed to forward, for your information and guidance, the annexed copy of the rules (as amended) which the Lords of the Committee of Council on Education have laid down with respect to the conditions under which they will be prepared to recognise as "certified efficient schools," under the Education Act, 1876 (sec. 48), those elementary schools which do not seek annual aid, and are not inspected by the officers of other departments of the State.

The efficiency of every such school will have to be tested in respect of

I. The premises in which it is held.

2. The results of the secular instruction.

1. Your inquiry under the first head will extend to all the points on which the Department are required to be satisfied, under Article 85 of the Code, in the case of an annual grant school.

My Lords are not prepared to certify any school as efficient which does not, in these particulars, come up to the standard required as a condition of annual grants.

2. The standard of instruction fixed by the rules is higher than that fixed in 1877. My Lords then specially reserved to themselves the power of hereafter requiring as a condition of a certificate of efficiency the same standard of attainments in the school as would be required as a condition of an annual grant, and they consider that the time has now come for exercising this power.

Should you find the instruction in any school more advanced than the standard suggested in the rules, you will report what results are actually attained in the school, and the higher subjects, if any, in which proficiency is shown by the scholars.

If on the occasion of any visit to a certified efficient school you find that the managers wish to apply for annual aid, you will

inform the managers that they must intimate their wishes to this Department, if they have not already done so, reminding them that no grant can be made to any school which is not conducted as a public elementary school within the meaning of the Education Act of 1870 (sec. 7).

My Lords will expect you to report upon the certified efficient schools which you visit, either when specially called upon to do so, or in any general report on your district, which is presented to Parliament.

1. The managers of any elementary school who wish the school to be certified as efficient will, on writing to the Secretary, Education Depattment, Whitehall, London, S.W., receive instructions as to the manner in which their application is to be conducted.

2. The Department, on agreeing to entertain the application, will direct one of Her Majesty's Inspectors to report upon the school. The Inspector will give notice beforehand to the managers of the day fixed for his visit.

Preliminary Conditions.

3. Before a school is certified as an Efficient School, the Education Department must be satisfied that,

(a.) Elementary education is the principal part of the education given in the school, and that the ordinary payments, in respect of the instruction, from each scholar do not exceed ninepence a week.

(b.) The school is not conducted for private profit, and is not farmed out by the managers to the teacher. The managers are responsible for the payment of teachers and all other expenses of the school.

(c.) The managers are responsible for the conduct of their schools, for their maintenance in efficiency, and for the

provision of all needful furniture, books, and apparatus, and in particular of

(a.) suitable registers;

(b.) a portfolio to contain official letters;
(c.) a diary or log-book ;

(d) a cash book;

(e.) the Code and Revised Instructions for each

year.

The log-book must be stoutly bound and contain not less than 300 ruled pages. It must be kept by the principal teacher, who is required to enter in it from time to time such events as the introduction of new books, apparatus, or courses of instruction, any plan of lessons approved by the Inspector, the visits of managers, absence, illness, or failure of duty on the part of any of the school staff, or any special circumstances affecting the school that may for the sake of future reference or for any other reason deserve to be recorded.

No reflections or opinions of a general character are to be entered in the log-book.

(d.) The school premises are healthy, are properly constructed, lighted, warmed, drained, and ventilated, are supplied with suitable offices, and contain sufficient accommodation for the scholars attending the school.

N.B. All new school premises and enlargements must conform generally to the rules contained in Schedule VII. of the Code, and the plans must be approved by the Department before such new premises and enlargements are passed. The numbers for which such new premises and enlargements are passed will generally be calculated in accordance with the rules in Schedule VII. Schools already certified as efficient will be regarded as accommodating the number of scholars for which they have been hitherto recognised by the Department, provided that in no case there shall be less than 80 cubic feet of internal space and 8 square feet of internal area for each unit of average attendance. If in the neighbourhood of any school there is a deficiency of school accommodation, which is being supplied with due despatch, the accommodation of that school may with the consent of the Department be temporarily calculated at 80 cubic feet and 8 square feet for each unit of average attendance.

(e) The school is properly provided with furniture, books, maps, and other apparatus of elementary instruction.

(f) The teacher is efficient, and is not allowed to undertake

duties, not connected with the school, which occupy any part whatever of the school hours.

(g.) The girls are taught plain needlework, as part of the ordinary course of instruction.

Standard of Instruction, Discipline, and Organization.

4. The school must reach a standard of instruction, discipline, and organization that would enable the Inspector to report it as efficient under Article 86 of the Code, subject to the provisions in that Article as to warning, number of reports, and appeal.

5. The school must meet in the morning and afternoon, in the course of each year, not less than 400 times, or a smaller number of times if it is carried on, under an arrangement approved by the Department, with the view of satisfying the requirements of any byelaw passed by a local authority, for the half-time instruction of children above ten years of age. (1)

6. Attendance at a morning or afternoon meeting may not be reckoned for any scholar who has been under instruction in secular subjects less than two hours in a school or class for older children, or one hour and a half in a school or class for infants.

The minimum time constituting an attendance may include an interval for recreation of not more than fifteen minutes in a meeting of three hours, and not more than ten minutes in a shorter meeting.

School Registers.

7. The registers must be kept in the manner prescribed in the Appendix to the Revised Instructions.

General Conditions.

8. An Inspector may visit any certified efficient school at any time without notice, and will endeavour to do so with notice once every year.

9. The managers will, when called upon, report as to the teacher's character, conduct, and attention to duty.

10. The Inspector will report whether the school is efficient in premises, organization, discipline, and instruction, and whether the registers are properly kept.

(1) An arrangement under this rule may provide for a school being open only in the morning, or afternoon, of each day, or twice a day for certain months in the year.