NATIVE SCHOOLS.

Otago Witness, Issue 1462, 22 November 1879, Page 8

NATIVE SCHOOLS.

In the papers relating to Native schools, recently presented to Parliament, the schools at Taiaroa Heads and Waikouaiti are well spoken of by the Rev. J. W. Stack in hia report to the Government,

At the Heads there were 22 boys and 22 girls pr«sent at the inspection, and the report reflects great credit on the master, Mr Lucas. ffhe Inspector says :— " The disciplina of the school was excellent. The children were clean and well-behaved. The schoolroom is Bmall and inconvenient, and at present overcrowded. A suitable schoolroom might bo built for L2OO The desks supplied ainco my last visit have proved a great convenience. It would add to the comfort of the children if the playground Were levelled ; the cost of doing it would not be very much. The progress made by tho senior classes, both in reading and arithmetic, during the past year was very marked, and surpassed anythingl have yet witnessed. The advancement was not confined to a few picked scholars, .but extended to entire classes, comprising more than half the number of children in attendance at the school. Mr Lucas must have bestowed more than ordinary attention upon his pupils to have achieved such a result. A proof of the proficiency attained by his scholars was given at the public examination which took place at Portobello on the sth of June, 1878, when

several of Mr Lacas' pupils competed with the English children belonging to the school there, and defeated them in most of the subjects they were examined in. Mr Taiaroa, M.H.R., Rev. E. Ngara Karetai, and most of the Natives resident at Otago Heads were present ;throughout the examination. After the distribution of the prizaa furnished by the Government to the successful scholars, several speeches were made boaring on the subject of education. At theWaikouaiti school, where Mr Moloney is master, there were 40 children present at the examination. The children appear to have made excellent progress. In concluding his report the Inspector says :—": — " Mra Moloney exhibited several specimens of sewing, some of ■which were very creditable. She was very desirous that the Government should provide a sewing-machine for the U3e of the school. She assured me that it was much needed, to enable the girls sto make their own dresses. As the School Committee supported Mrs Moloney's request, I think it is desirable, if possible, that it should be complied with. Any attempt to promote habits of industry deserves to be encouraged. "The children, with two exceptions, wece clean and well clad ; their behaviour was excellent, and the discipline of the school was much improvad. The schoolroom was_ clean, and the furniture and school apparatus in good order. Since my last visit, the school ground has been enclosed with a substantial post-and-rail fence, and some improvements 'made in the master's rooms. Both the master and the School Committee desire the admission of European children to the school ; but, for very obvious reasons, only a small number ought to be admitted — perhaps about 16 per cent. " The members of the Committee, and most of the Maori residents at Waikouaiti, were present during my examination, which, was made more interesting: for all by the fact that I bad prizes, provided by the Government, to award at its close to the successful scholars. After I had addressed the parents and scholars, Messrs Pratt, Mera Kihereka, and Tare Teihaka made sensible speeches appropriate to the occasion. All spoke in high terms of Mr and Mrs Moloney, whose efforts for the welfare of the children were not confined within the four walls of tho schoolroom. lam glad to learn that since my inspection an addition has been made to the master's salary. " I was most hospitably entertained by Mr Thomas Pratt (tCaireroa), the chairman of the School Committee, who exercises a most beneficial influence with the Maoris. He is industrious, and a good man of business. He has succeeded in inducing the Maoris not to let their reserves, but to work them ; and the appearance of the place is that of an ordinary English village — a few whares hero and there ara the only indication of the presence of Maoris."