upon which he should draw by cheque for all moneys for which orders are drawn upon him by the board.

INSTRUCTIONS TO SCHOOL MANAGERS APPOINTED UNDER SECTION 15 OF THE ELEMENTARY EDUCATION ACT, 1870.

(See Articles 6 and 7 of the Accounts Order.)

39. When the board shall have delegated to a body of managers the control and management of the finances of a school, an account of the income and expenditure of such school should be kept by the school treasurer in a cash book, according to the form set forth in Schedule D. of the accounts order.

40. Such a cash book would furnish a self-explanatory view of the transactions on account of the school, showing both the character of each detail and the financial result of the whole.

41. Each item of receipt and payment would be at once carried to its proper head of account, and the necessity for transferring the items from one book to another is avoided by the classification under the various heads of account being effected in the cash book. The first entry in the school cash book should be the balance (if any) in hand or overdrawn, which should appear in the total column only, if in hand on the receipt side, if overdrawn on the payment side. All other entries should appear in the total column as well as in the particular column under which they fall.

42. This book should be closed and balanced on the 25th March and 29th September, respectively, or, if the school board belongs to the class mentioned in Article 5 of these Instructions, on the 29th September only, and at the end of the school year, as defined by Article 13 of the New Code, and accounts (in accordance with the form set forth in Schedule E. annexed to the order) of the income and expenditure of the school should be made up to those dates and sent to the school board as soon as possible after the book has been closed. These accounts should be extracted from, and should agree with, the entries in the school cash book.

43. The school treasurer should receive the school fees from the schoolmaster every week, and should enter the amount in his cash book under the head of "school fees."

44. The schoolmaster should not be called upon to act as treasurer to the school, or to make payments on behalf of the managers of the school other than the weekly payment of fees to the school treasurer.

45. All payments ordered by the managers should be made by the school treasurer, and should be supported by vouchers duly receipted.

46. Wherever practicable, it would be advisable for the school treasurer to open an account with the school at a bank, and so far as possible, to make all payments by means of cheques drawn on the bank.

The "Cash Book" in the Alternative Form. (See Article 3 of the Accounts

Order.)

47. When the cash book in the alternative form prescribed by Article 3 of the accounts order is used, instead of the cash book prescribed by Article 2

(1), the ledger is dispensed with, but the abstract book must be kept. (See Articles 32 to 37 of these Instructions.)

48. The first entry in the cash book in the alternative form should be the balance (if any) in hand or overdrawn, which should appear in the total column only, if in hand on the receipt side, if overdrawn on the payment side. All other entries should appear in the total column, as well as in the column under which they fall.

49. This book should be closed and balanced on the 29th September in every year, and the balance carried forward as the first entry for the year next ensuing.

50. 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.

51. This book is intended for school boards in small districts, whose expenditure would be mainly, if not wholly, confined to the maintenance of the school provided by them.

Copy of Circular referred to in Article 36 of the preceding Instructions.

SIR,

Education Department, Whitehall, London, S.W.
June 15th, 1875.

Adverting to General Order of the Local Government Board as to accounts of school boards, I am to state that my Lords find that a diversity of practice exists as to the manner in which the accounts of schools provided by school boards are made up, and I am to request your attention to the following points:

(1.) The accounts entered in the abstract book (see Art. 2 (4) of the Accounts Order) and in the financial returns of schools (Form IX. B.) should be closed at the end of the school year (New Code, Art. 13) by an entry under the column for rates of such an amount as will balance the two sides of the account. The only exception to this rule would be when the income of the school from sources other than rates is in excess of the total expenditure, in which case no entry should be made under "Rates," and the balance in hand should be carried forward to the account of the following year.

(2.) All items of income and expenditure which do not relate to the annual maintenance of schools, e.g. "loans and repayment of loans;" "salaries of officers of the board;" "purchase of sites;" "building and enlarging schools;" election expenses; &c., should be carefully excluded from the abstract book and from the yearly financial returns of schools. (See Arts. 19 and 32-36 of the Instructions respecting the Accounts of School Boards.)

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(3.) These financial returns should be entered (inter alia) upon the Form (IX. B.) which will be sent by H.M. Inspector with the notice of his annual visit to each school, and will be called for by him on the day of such visit. I am, &c.,

F. R. SANDFORD.

The Clerk of the
School Board of

CERTIFIED EFFICIENT SCHOOLS.1

INSTRUCTIONS AND RULES OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT,

SIR,

CIRCULAR LETTER TO H.M. INSPECTORS OF SCHOOLS.

Education Department, Whitehall, S.W.
February 8th, 1877.

I am directed to forward, for your information and guidance, the annexed copy of the Rules 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 of1. 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 you are required to report under the New Code, in the case of an application for annual aid, and will include the supply of school furniture, books, apparatus, and other material appliances.2

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, until they are satisfied that any deficiencies which you may have pointed out have been made good.

2. As regards the standard of instruction fixed by the rules, my Lords are aware that it is a very low one, and that it can be accepted only as a startingpoint for future improvement. They have taken it, with very slight modifications, from the test of efficiency prescribed by the instructions issued to the inspectors who, under the Act of 1870, carried out the inquiry into the general school provision of the country. It is obvious that as the object of the recognition of the new class of schools in question is to secure for children who do not attend public elementary schools such instruction in the first four standards of the Code as will qualify them to obtain certificates of proficiency under the Act of 1876, enabling them to go to work, it will be the duty of the managers so to raise the character of the teaching in their schools as at least to keep pace with the standards of proficiency required in successive years by that Act as a condition of employment. My Lords must, therefore, expressly reserve to themselves the power to require a higher standard of instruction,

1 See 39 & 40 Vict., c. 79, s. 48.

2 For provisions of New Code, see p. 360.

from time to time, from those schools which are to be continued on the list of certified efficient schools.

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, and their teacher to be examined for a certificate under Article 47 of the Code, you will hear the teacher give a lesson to a class, as a test of his (or her) practical skill, and you will satisfy yourself that the school does not fall short of the minimum standard of instruction specified in the rules. So, if the managers wish the teacher to receive a certificate without examination, under Article 59 of the Code, you will examine the scholars according to the terms of that article, and report the result of the examination, and your opinion of the teacher's skill. In either case 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.

I have the honour to be,

To Her Majesty's Inspectors of Schools.

Sir,

Your obedient servant,

F. R. SANDFORD.

RULES AS TO CERTIFIED EFFICIENT SCHOOLS.

1. The managers of any elementary school who wish the school to be certified as efficient will, on writing to the Secretary, Education Department, 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 school fee for each scholar does not exceed ninepence a week,

(b.) The school is not carried on under the management of any person or persons who derive emolument from it.

(c.) The school premises are healthy, well lighted, warmed, drained, and ventilated; supplied with suitable offices, and contain in the principal schoolroom and classrooms at least 80 cubical feet of internal space, and 8 square feet of area, for each child in average attendance. (d.) The school is properly furnished, supplied with books and apparatus, and under good discipline.

(e.) 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.

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

Standard of Instruction.

4. (a.) The general instruction of infants (from 5 to 7) will be tested by the Standard of Instruction used in Public Elementary Schools.

(b.) As regards the elder children, 50 per cent. of the number of scholars above 7 years of age, in average attendance during the previous year, will be individually examined in reading, writing, and elementary arithmetic; those from 7 to 8 in Standard I. of the Code of 1870 those from 8 to 10 in Standard I. of the Code of 1877, and those above 10 in Standard II. (or a higher Standard) of the same Code (1877). (c.) One half of the children examined ought to pass in two subjects. (d.) One half of the children above 10 ought to pass in two subjects. (e.) One half of the children so passing ought to pass in arithmetic.

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