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Educationally Wellington has made rapid progress during the last few years, but there is still a great deal to be done. The school buildings, though fairly commodious, are not imposing in their appearance, nor do they occupy such prominent sites as at Christchurch and Wanganui. The Wellington College grounds are most admirably situated, and the building, though of wood, is both fine and picturesque. The Catholic College occupies a splendid site and is a handsome brick edifice. But the Government of ten years ago dealt Wellington a cruel and undeserved blow by crowning Mount Cook with a central gaol instead of a University. There it stands, ugly in fact and uglier in fancy. A fine university building in its place would have given character to the City; and parents might have pointed to it with pride, fastening in the minds of their boys and girls a desire to rise to educational distinction. The citizens protested when the building began to show itself against the southern sky, but they were informed that their remonstrances were too late. It might have been stopped twelve months or two years before, but the opportunity was missed, and, like a neglected cancer, it has gone on growing ever since, every day (Sundays excepted) making it more difficult of removal. One wing has long been finished, and the prisoners are slowly piling up the bricks for the second. The whole structure will probably be completed during the first decade of the twentieth century; but, if completed, that century and the next may pass into oblivion before Wellington is strong enough to hurl down the ugly thing. There are other sites, however; and the central gaol need not remain an apology for the University College. Wellington needs the institution, and should have it. The University of New Zealand has its head-quarters at the capital, thus emphasizing the necessity for a College. Quite recently agitation was again going on in this matter of removing the central gaol to admit of its place being occupied by the University College building. Petitions were presented to Parliament, and it is to be most ardently hoped that sooner or later these efforts will be rewarded with the success they deserve. Many years ago Mr. W. T. L. Travers protested most resolutely and publicly against the taking of the present college reserve for the purpose to which it has been devoted, it being his opinion that it was set apart for the purposes of a University. Something should certainly be done, and done quickly, to remove from the capital City the reproach of being so lamentably behind in the course of higher education.

The Technical School is an institution of which Wellington may fairly be proud. It is well conducted, and the Director, Mr. A. D. Riley, takes an absorbing interest in everything connected with it; but a more liberal subsidy would enable the manager to carry out many much-needed reforms. It is questionable whether in all cases the best technical skill is employed. Notwithstanding many drawbacks, however, much good is being done, and a serious attempt is being made to ennoble all classes of work. The Technical School occupies a portion of the Education Board buildings, and is, as it were, under the wing of the Board.

In the primary schools of the City a great deal of good work is being done, and improved methods of imparting instructions are being almost daily introduced. Many of the masters and teachers are fired with a laudable ambition and a love for their work, which cannot fail of success. Those who remember the condition of educational matters in this Colony thirty years ago can hardly credit that so much real advance has taken place since then. A report on the schools in the Wellington District in 1866 made by the then inspector, Mr. T. A. Bowden, direct to the Superintendent of the Province, there being no Education Board in existence at that time—exposes many of the difficulties which then lay in the path of education. The lack of funds and the objectionable system of special taxation are prominent among these obstacles.

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There were in 1866 but thirty-one Government schools in the province; and of these five were closed for the time being. Two out of the whole number had been painted, and one partly painted. Four were lined and five partly lined. The teachers for the whole district numbered thirty-five; the total number of scholars on the books barely exceeded 1000, and the average attendance was under 700. The thirty-five teachers, of whom twenty-six were head teachers, received a total remuneration of about £3300 per annum. In 1874 the then new and still present inspector, Mr. Robert Lee, made his first report to “The Education Board of the Province of Wellington;” and certainly in that intervening space of eight years some progress had been made, though the figures were still very small. There were then fifty-nine schools. The average attendance was 2134, though examination day saw 2381 scholars in their places. The teachers' salaries for the year amounted to £6,735 15s.—less than £115 per school. Sixty-seven teachers and ten pupil-teacher were the recipients of this expenditure. The total revenue of the Board for the year 1873–1874 was £8959 2s. 5d. By 1894 the joint revenue of the Wellington and Wanganui Education Boards had grown to £75,963 10s. 3d.; but it is difficult to make an exact comparison between the two dates, because about twenty schools under the control of the Wanganui Board are situate beyond the Taranaki boundary of the Wellington Province. About a twentieth of the income was from other sources than the Government grant. The number of primary schools in the Wellington Provincial District may be set down at about 190; and the average attendance slightly exceeds 16,000. The salaries paid to about 500 teachers and assistants of all grades in the Wellington Provincial District for the year 1894 amounted to about £50,000. Thus, after allowing, say £5000 for salaries paid by the Wanganui Board to the teachers of the schools in the Taranaki Province, a sum of about £20,000 was left for the maintenance of school buildings, grants to school committees, scholarships, etc. These figures show how wonderfully this part of the Colony has progressed in the matter of educational statistics. The education system of the Colony is one of its most creditable features, as it is still one of its most progressive.