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Fourteen Teams entere 1 for the Elementary Course, numbering altogether 123 com- petitors, as compared with 10 Teams and 98 competitors last year. The results were as follows:-

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First. Diocesan School, Boys. Winners of the Shield. The best paper done. for the winning Team was that of MANUEL LEITAO to whom was therefore awarded the prize of $20. But the winning school was run so close by 2 others, the Italian Convent and the Belilios School, that His Excellency decided to give special prizes of $20 for the best papers in their Teams. These fell to ALICE BRANDT of the Italian Convent and to FLORA ROSARIO of the Belilios School. The marks obtained and other details are given in Table JV. The 3 best Teams get over 70%, a figure which was not reached by any school last year.

On the other hand, the last 5 schools did badly, so far as the figures shew. But of these, Fairlea could hardly be expected to shine in a test of this severe Wantsai's fall from the high place it took last year is lamentable. It should however be said that a great many boys left that school for Queen's College at the end of the summer term, with the result that what was practically a new Team had to be got together. The positions held by the Ellis Kadoorie School in the Advanced and Elementary Examinations. reflect the comparative weakness of the lower Classes, as I have pointed out in my Annual Report on that school. Yaumati has risen from the last of the 3 District Schools to the first. The schools which, when the smallness of their fields of selection are considered in conjunction with the immaturity of their pupils, have in my opinion most distinguished them- selves, are the Belilios School, the Anglo-Portuguese School (a new coin- petitor) and St. Stephen's School, also a new competitor and one where the whole of the Staff is Chinese. In the case of the latter school I stretched a point, and did not insist on a full Team of 10 being sent in, even though there were boys under instruction available to fill it. In all other cases a shortage of pupils alone was accepted as a reason for sending a Team of less than the prescribed numerical strength.

Disregarding the performances of the last 5 schools, it can not said that any question was generally much better or worse done thin the rest. The pay r set is given in Appendix A.

SUGGESTIONS FOR NEXT YEAR'S EXAMINATION.

The present system seems to work very well. The only suggestions I have to offer, are that the paper set for the Advanced Course should another year contain more questions calculated to test a knowledge of the books of reference read to supplement the Manual; and that in the case of the Advanced competition no school should be allowed to send in more than 3 candidates. Each school should hold a preliminary examination for the purpose of selecting them, unless the teacher can do so by his knowledge of the qualifica- tions of his pupils. If this is done, the examiners will be saved the necessity of wading through a number of papers, which are not nearly good enough to have any chance of winning a prize.

One important school was not represented in the Team competition, apparently as a protest against a decision that schools that promote their pupils at inidsummer should not be given some compensating advantage. It is obvious that an advantage is gained by those schools which, promoting at Christmas, have their pupils in Standard V for a whole year prior to the examination. But no remedy suggested itself which was not overcum brous, or likely to introduce further anomalies. That no overwhelming hardship is caused by the present system is proved by the fact that under it the Italian Convent and the Anglo-Portugese School came out so well.

EDWARD A. IRVING,

Inspector of Schools.