AUCKLAND MAORI SCHOOLS.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXVI, Issue 225, 20 September 1905, Page 5

AUCKLAND MAORI SCHOOLS.

I , ! SOME ADVERSE GRIHCISM. I . (By Telegraph. -Parliamentary Beporter.) WELLINGTON, thfe day. In his report on native schools Mr IW. W. Bird. Inspector, has the folio-wing I with reference to the native boys' , : boarding school, St. Stephen's. Panrell. f Auckland: ""The general organisation of . this school, and the programme of work, , could not be considered satisfactory. In t the upper classes the methods of in- . . struetion were pocr, and the most im- , portant subject. English, was especially j • I weak. No instrutrtion in elementary I I ' science has been given, and the other j . subjects have not been treated in such I .! a way as to de\nlap-tae observation and \ ! j reasoning powers of the bays. The head ; teacher had exercised to an rtnusual ex- ; ; tent the power allowed him in regard to j i J freedom of classification. Thus, several : [ intelligent boys who had previously . ; pa-sed the fourth standard in the Maori , village schools wore doing work vpry i little above the work of that standard. | ; I The work of the lower classes had befn j i i carefully done. Some of it was dis- : J tinctly good. Although the boy* were ! younger, the spoken ami -written Eng- ' i lish was betUT than in the upper I ■ classes. The building of the new school i by the boy?; themselves, under the sole ] '■ direction of the carpentry instructor, is | I the very best evidence there coulu be of ' the value of their workshop training. In ' my opinion some training in elementary ■ agriculture, with practical work in a I 1 j school garden, should be added to the j school programme. , * Queen Victoria School for Maori i Girts. Auckland: ''In this school/* Mr i Bird says. "There has been marked im- ] ! provement in the teaching of spoken and written English in the upper classes, and • in arithmetic generally. Nature study I (including therein also physical sreo- ! grapliy, elementary agru.-ulture. physi- j . ! ology. the laws of health, etc. I. i> begin- i j ning to be taught in a practical way — a good departure, as none of these sub- j jeets can be s.udied with any educ-a- | tiona! or practical benefit from books i alons , . There are still too many classes to allow the best opportunities for individual attention, a certain amount of ■ which is absolutely necessary in teaching i-hildren a language which is not i their mother tongue. The work is. , I jieniTally speaking, very nent. and the I tone of the school appears to be excellent as far as an outsider can judge.' , ■ In the schools of the Far North (Parengarenga. Man<ronui. and Whangarna) there has b< en a satisfactory attend- : an--e during the par. One factor in tlv? ; improvement in 'he attendance has been ! the low price of kauri ;mm. and ions'quent rPturn of many children who hud j gone to the fields, but the appreciation of the school and its master by parentand children is s< much more potent lac- ' tor. Tnstanc"- arc not wanting in this • di.» rii-t whf..' Maori children walk to i school a distance of from ten to fifteen ' j miles along a. gumrield trar-k. The order ' and discipline wen* all that eoulil be ilp- ' I siri'fl. and the general tone of these , ' I schools i~ sati-faiton. the relations l>o ' ! tween rlre teachers and parents being , ■of a cordial nature. The t>samination ' ' results iif these schools showed that in ' ; this district increased proficiency had . ' j been attained, though ther«- is -till to •, I. b< , found weakness' in the teaching <jf I the preparatory classes. ' I In the Hokianga district the atteml- ! ' anee :xt the schools, with -ome few exI ceptions, is not -o satisfactory as it , should he: indeed, in four i-ases it. altogether unsatisfactory. Proximity to rle orumfiefds and to ttmhrr miUs and j to flaxmills has ,i Uvri effect. In only j' one school can the order an<l 11 Ibe regarde.l as falling much Iw'ow the j mark. The efficiency of the schools, as ! gau-red by the annual examination of ' . them, varied con.-ridpraWy. Therp sitp qonrtp Vn which oun can rind irronTids for ■ J much rmeasines?;. The explanation lies. •i I think, in the fact thar the teacheTs. . I still clinging to rheir riM hjive ; J not moved along with the timr , * in the ] ; I direction of increased development, ani i [ ! are consequently left with their schools . ;: in rhe position which they occupier! years i i : ago. 'Hie attendance ;ir the Bay of . I I*landn. Whangarei an«l Kaipara schools ! I has been very good on the whole. There ; N not so much dearth of food amongst ■ . the people of these districts, anil, more- ; . ' over, nearly all of Them arc in proximity '■ , to civilisation, which brinsrs with it fai.-ilities for getting food. In at least half o-f the schools of this group th» i ] junirirr were unusually weak in j reading. In other respects the results j of the examination.* were generally sat- , isfactory. At the Thames. Hot Lakes. Waikato. i I and King Country schools the attend- : 1 ancp has been very gooii indeed, nece*- t , sttaring at Whakaremirewa incrpased | , aii omm<xiati<>n. Tlie school of Te Kiiiti ' , is also very much overcrowded, but an agitation has ber-n on foot for the transfer of- the school to the Auckland Education Board. i Some of the new st-hoo-Is in this group are doing exceptionally well, and the work in nearly all rhe other* was of a very satisfactory nature. J The Urewera district may bp regarded : ias the outennoiKt region i>t Maoridom. ; and thp work of the teacher here has ; exceptional difficulties. The people arc • , for the most part poor, awl the food , and clothing of the children are of the , scantiest description. In addition to: , this, the tohungn still holds full sway , here, ajid rhe people ding to the Te ' Kooti religion. At the same time., j they show an apprcr-iation of their j ; schools. Some of the children are , "boarded out" with relative*, so that I ( they may attend. The rhincinir of pois i and hakas which Took place during the year had a very unsetrlinsr effect on the i children. The people even entertained i the idea of taking a troupe round Australasia. Laundry work would be a ' very useful branch of instruction to in- i troduee here. The difficulty wottTd be ,to get over the aversion of the people to ■ : the use of hot warer. which is against ' ! their religious principles. Ruatoki | ! ' school has now on the roll the largest , number of children of all of the native schools. art(T has had to be cons : derably enJarged to accommodate them all. A new school is applied for at Matatua,. in Rnat.ahuna district." and a visft . here disclosed the fact that there are , many children in the place a.ll living: in the most primitive state, and forming excellent specimens of the raw material. ' I