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Remarks on individual subjects:-

Reading. Very good indeed, more attention requires to be paid to phrasing, punctuation, and expression in the highest classes.

Colloquial.-473 boys were examined and 76 per cent. passed As this is a new departure, the success is satisfactory.

Dictation. Considerable improvement in both spelling and writing, much higher percentage of

passes.

Composition.-A very marked advance. Many boys intelligently employed their imaginations to grasp the situations in the stories and used very appropriate phrases of their own selection to provide details suggested but not related; so that there was very little of the usual style of exercise com- pounded of dictation and memory work.

Grammar. Excellent work in Lower School, and very good in Upper School. More attention in the First class requires to be paid to parsing and analysis. The order to parse fully is not carried out by a style of parsing that would scarcely pass in the fourth class.

History.-Very successfully taught; foolish answers suggestive of inattention and a futile attempt to cram, very rare.

Mathematics.-Arithmetic same percentage as the total pass last year. Algebra very weak in IB. Euclid, generally good.

Geography-Well taught, including excellent maps from memory.

Shakespeare.-Good papers by several boys in the three sections of Class I.

Translation from and to Chinese.-Very good, specially the latter.

Latin-Only taught in the non-Chinese classes, has attained but a poor standard.

Book-keeping. Very marked improvement on last year.

General Intelligence.-This paper consists of questions on subjects that do not form part of actual class work, but on which every intelligent boy is supposed to have some ideas from conversation or general reading. The considerable improvement observed is doubtless due to the attention paid to colloquial.

Special Subjects.-Chemistry shows distinct improvement; this is the first time in the history of the College that a practical examination has been held in this subject. Drawing was introduced this year with very good results. Trigonometry offered by three boys was not well done by any, though two passed.

19. PUPIL TEACHERS AND MONITORS.-Three of the monitors came out at the head of the Poll; one of them is therefore Morrison Scholar, quite a rare event during the last few years. The rest passed a satisfactory examination in the usual subjects, including a paper on the theory and history of education. In the test of practical work before the class, the four who had more than a year's experience gave their orders and instruction in a highly satisfactory manner. The remaining four, who had been accustomed to teach only during the last few months, taught very creditably, with one exception. Great care was taken over reading and spelling, but I observed that in every case the teacher was of opinion that the dictation lesson was over when the number of mistakes on each boy's slate (marked by another boy) was reported by himself; there was no inspection to criticise hand- writing or discover omitted mistakes. Lessons in early stages of arithmetic were not sufficiently simple. 20. SCHOLARSHIPS.--As the marks obtained at the competition for the Government scholarship have not yet been published, we are ignorant of how our two candidates fared, beyond the fact that neither is at the head. The Trustees of the Morrison scholarship have instituted a junior scholarship of $25 a year for three years, to be awarded to the head boy of the Lower School, as the Senior is gained by the dux of the College. The Stewart Scholarship wsa this year gained by the head boy of the junior section of the first class. The Belilios Trustees have enhanced the value of these two scholarships by the addition of Shakespeare to the senior subjects, and History to the junior. The Bain Engineering scholarship has been withdrawn, as no candidate has offered since its foundation. Two students have been nominated Belilios Medical scholars in connexion with the College of Medicine.

21. PRIZES. In thanking the many generous contributors to our prize fund, I would draw attention to the yearly increasing contributions from the Chinese residents, which, as the Inspector of Schools remarked with truth at the distribution of prizes to the Government Central School for Girls, is the most reliable evidence of their full confidence in the management of the institution.

I have the honour to be,

The Honourable G. T. M. O'BRIEN, C.M.G.,

Colonial Secretary.

Sir,

Your most obedient Servant,

GEO. H. BATESON WRIGHT, D.D., Oxon., Head Master.