EDUCATION: NATIVE SCHOOLS. [In continuation of E.-2, 1899.]

Appendix to the Journals of the House of Representatives, 1900 Session I, E-02

E.— 2

1900. NEW ZEALAND.

EDUCATION: NATIVE SCHOOLS. [In continuation of E.-2, 1899.]

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

No. 1. EXTEACT FROM TWENTY-THIRD ANNUAL REPORT OF THE MINISTER OF EDUCATION. The number of Maori village schools in operation at the end of 1899 was eightyfour, four more than were open in December, 1898. The number of children on the rolls of these schools on 31st December, 1899, was 3,065, or 93 more than at the end of the previous year. The average weekly roll-number during 1899 was 3,255, which shows an increase of 199; but there was a slight falling-off in the regularity of attendance, as the strict average attendance increased only by 93 - 75 —namely, from 2,341 to 2,434 - 75 ;in other words, the average attendance during 1899 was 74 - 8 per cent, of the average roll-number, as against 76*6 in 1898. Two new schools—Waimana, in the Tuhoe country, and Wai-o-tapu, in the Eotorua district—were opened during the year, and seem to promise success. Three schools were reopened; these are—Peria, in the Mangonui district; Whangape, in the Hokianga district; and Otamatea, in the Kaipara district. At the first two schools there has been a large attendance since the reopening; in the case of the third serious sickness has interfered with progress. The school at Karikari (Tauranga) was removed to a new site at Papamoa; the name of the Koriniti school (Wanganui district) was changed at the request of the Maoris to Pamoana. One school, Mawhitiwhiti, in the Taranaki district, was closed towards the end of the year, in consequence of the continued apathy .of the people. More recently, since the beginning of the present year, it has been found necessary, by reason of greatly diminished attendance, to close two other schools —Whakarapa, near Hokianga, (temporarily), and Huria, near Tauranga. On the other hand, since the end of 1899, a school has been opened at Touwai, near Whangaroa; at Euapuke, near Foveaux Strait, the building is ready for a teacher; and tenders are soon to be invited for the erection of schools at Tapuaeharuru, close to Lake Eoto-iti, and at Te Haroto, on the Napier-Taupo Eoad. In regard to the proposals for new schools, there seems to be, in three or four cases at least, a fair prospect of success; and should difficulties as to sites, &c, be overcome, the schools in question should be opened at no distant date. One of the most pleasing features in connection with the work of the year is our continued successful advance into the northern portion of the Tuhoe or TJrewera country. I—E. 2.

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The examination reports of the schools examined during the year 1899 show that 403 children passed Standard I.; 340, Standard II.; 242, Standard III.; 143, Standard IV.; 40, Standard V.; and 17, Standard VI. Except in Standard 1., where a stricter test was imposed, and in Standard IV., which shows five less than in 1898, these numbers are higher than in 1898. The four Maori boarding-schools —Te Aute and St. Stephen's for boys, Hukarere and St. Joseph's for girls—carried on their work as usual. Mr. Pope reports, as usual, his visits to these schools, as also visits paid to the denominational schools at Waerenga-a-Hika, Otaki, Putiki, and Matata, and the results of his examination for the Te Makarmi scholarships. The sterling advantages offered by the latter are due to private beneficence. Government maintains 27 boys and 38 girls as scholarship-holders or pupils at the four secondary schools, two medical students at the Otago University, one student at Canterbury College, six apprentices or holders of industrial scholarships, and one girl holding a hospital-nursing scholarship at the Napier Hospital. In addition to the scholarships given to Maori boys and girls who have passed the Fourth Standard in the Native village schools, there have now been established scholarships for deserving Maori children attending the ordinary public schools. A Maori boy or girl entitled to such a scholarship may be sent to a higher school approved of by the Minister, or may be apprenticed to learn a trade. In order to gain a better insight into the actual working of the Maori-school system, the Inspector-General of Schools, in March and April of the present year, visited the Maori village schools of the East Coast and Bay of Plenty districts, the convent school at Matata, and the school at Eakaumanga, near the King Settlement; also Te Aute College, Hukarere Maori Girls' High School, and St. Stephen's Boarding-school for Boys, Auckland. The following are extracts from his report: — Nearly all the teachers seemed to be doing conscientious work, although there is naturally much difference in the quality of their performances. Although our Native-school Inspectors have always laid great stress upon the teaching of English, I am convinced that even greater attention and a larger amount of time ought to be devoted to this subject, especially to the speaking of English, and that we ought to be content with no standard that does not include such proficiency in English speech as would enable Maori children to readily express themselves in our language, and to read ordinary English books and newspapers. The amount of arithmetic, geography, and history might be somewhat curtailed. Drawing of the South Kensington First Grade type is being discredited even for European children; as an educational instrument for the education of the Maori I believe it is almost useless. The drawing in Native schools I would limit, perhaps entirely, to drawing to scale and to the making of such sketches, plans, and elevations as would be required for the hand-work they have to do. Next to the strengthening of English, I consider the introduction of a substantial amount of hand-work, or of manual and practical industrial instruction, with the aim not only of imparting practical skill, but in order also to stimulate in the Maori children a liking for work. Manual instruction should be introduced as soon as possible in all efficient schools. Many of our teachers suffer from want of training ; it seems to me just as important that Maori-school teachers should be trained in methods as that other teachers should. It would be a good thing, I think, if we could have an organizing superintendent of Native schools to visit schools, and to scay long enough, especially in weak schools, to show masters good methods, and, where suitable, to introduce hand-work. The time seems to have come for a revision of the Native Schools Code in some respects— e.g., as regards methods of payment of teachers, in addition to the amendment of the syllabus as indicated above. I had several strong testimonies given to me unasked as to the good the Native schools have done and are doing; but there are many hindrances to the work. Among these I would put . . . the vast expenditure by the Maoris of time and means on meetings of one kind and another (these unsettle the minds of the children, and do much to prevent the formation of good habits); the influence of the Maori tohungas and their superstitions, which lead to practices often dangerous to health . . .; the absence of facilities for young Maoris of both sexes, taught in the village- and secondary schools, to lead the more civilised life they have learnt; in consequence of this they often, it is to be feared, fail to make the best use of the greater knowledge they have acquired, or even altogether miss the benefits that their education should confer on them. I am not sure that I can suggest a better remedy for the last evil than is contained in a recent suggestion of Mr. Pope's, if it is possible to apply it—namely, the formation of special settlements in which young educated Maoris could live in the European fashion, and learn to work steadily and intelligently. It is true that we must not expect results too soon ; a native race like the Maori is probably not likely to adopt our ways more rapidly, but less rapidly, by reason of its

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own inherent strength of character, which imposes an obstacle very real, if not very visible, to the inroad of foreign ideas. lam glad to see that the Government has approved the recommendations I have made for the immediate extension of hand-work in Native schools, for the establishment of technical schools for those who have left the Maori village-schools, and for the substantial encouragement of manual and technical instruction at Te Aute and St. Stephen's. lam sure this course of action will result in great benefit to the Native-school system and the whole Maori race." In connection with the remarks of the Inspector-General, it may be mentioned that three technical schools for Maori bojfe who have left the villageschools are already being set up at Eakaumanga, Bangitukia, and Whirinaki respectively, and that, at the request of the Maoris themselves, carpentry is the subject with which a start is to be made; other subjects will follow in due course, and if the experiment succeeds, there is no reason why technical schools should not be opened in other districts also. In like manner the Government is giving substantial encouragement to the manual and technical instruction at Te Aute and St. Stephen's. Hand-work is being taken up with enthusiasm in some of the village-schools. A vote will be placed on the estimates for providing a visiting teacher (or "organizing superintendent"), who will be able to spend a much longer time at schools where his presence is found to be helpful than the Native-school Inspectors can afford to give, and will devote, moreover, special attention to organizing the manual and technical work in the schools. Out of the eighty-five schools in operation during the whole or part of the year 1899, sixty-five were under the charge of masters, and twenty under the charge of mistresses; the number of assistants was 63; of sewing-mis-tresses, 11. The head-masters received salaries ranging from ,£lOO to £275; head-mistresses, from £61 to ,£lB7 ; the salaries of assistants, who in nearly all cases belong to the family of the head-teacher, ranged from merely nominal amounts to £50. The expenditure on Native schools was as follows: Teachers' salaries and allowances, £13,586 18s. 5d.; books and school requisites, £499 7s. 7d.; repairs and small works, £535 ss. 9d. ; inspection, £962 2s. 7d.; boarding-schools and scholarships, £1,809 6s. 4d.; buildings, fencing, furniture, &c, £5,477 13s. 6d.; sundries, £160 6s. 4d.: total, £23,031 os. 6d. ' The report of the Inspector of Native Schools contains full information as to details in regard to the Maori village schools and the boarding-schools, and many interesting remarks upon the nature of the work being done in the Maori schools, together with a review of the progress made during the last twenty years.

No. 2. The Inspectok of Native Schools to the Inspector-General of Schools. Sir,— Wellington, Ist Feburary, 1900. In accordance with the terms of my standing instructions, I have the honour to lay before you my report on the general condition of the Native schools of New Zealand, and on the work done in them during the year 1899. Numbeb op Schools. At the end of 1898 there were eighty-four schools in full working order; at the end of 1897 the number had been seventy-eight. In the course of 1899 two new village schools were opened, three were reopened, and one was closed. Daring the year, or some portion of it, eighty-nine schools were in operation, and at the end of 1899 there were eighty-eight schools open—viz., eighty-four village schools and four boarding-schools. These numbers do not include the denominational schools which the Department has been asked to inspect and examine—viz., those at Matata Convent, Putiki, Otaki, and Waerenga-a-Hika. Changes: New Schools opened, and Schools reopened or closed. Waimana Native School was opened in the June quarter of 1899. It is in the Tuhoe, or Drewera Country, and may be considered a companion school to that at Ruatoki. Difficulties attended the opening, but it has now made a highly successful beginning. Wai-o-tapu School, in the Eotorua district, is a few miles from the Wai-o-tapu Hot Springs; it also has made a good beginning. The reopening of the schools at Peria, Whangape, and Otamatea was referred to in the report for 1898. The reopening of Peria was very successful, and the attendance has been unexpectedly large. The Whangape reopening also has been justified by the large attendance.-

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It may be hoped that the experiment will prove permanently satisfactory in spite of the difficult character of the district. Otamatea has been unfortunate ; a severe and fatal epidemic visited the district soon after the reopening. These three schools are in the Mangonui, Hokianga, and Kaipara districts respectively ; in each case the reopening took place in the March quarter. The Mawhitiwhili School, in the Taranaki District, was closed towards the end of the year; lengthy experience had shown the disposition of the people of trie place to be too apathetic to warrant the department's giving the school a further trial —for the present at all events. Besides the schools spoken of above, the school at Whakarapa has been closed, temporarily at any rate; and the Touwai School, near Whangaroa, has been opened since the beginning of the year. Peoposals foe New Schools. There are still many applications to be finally dealt with; of these, several are entirely new, while others have been on the books for a considerable time. The causes of delay are numerous: — Horoera, near East Gape, —A very fair school could probably be established here, but it has hitherto been thought that the children of the settlement are sufficiently provided for elsewhere. Motiti Island. —A visit was paid last year, and the case was found to be a good one. Since then, however, a severe and fatal epidemic has seriously reduced the number of children available. Okohu, Pelorus Sound. —An application has been made by this settlement; the people are hardly numerous enough to maintain an ordinary school. Oromahoe, Bay of Islands. —This place has been visited, and the case seems fairly promising. We are waiting for a survey. Oruanui, North Taupo, —The settlement is to be visited very shortly. Pahi, Kaipara. —Application is in the preliminary stage. Pahau, near Waikato Heads. —The district was visited at the close of last year. Although the population is greatly scattered a school would have a fair prospect. Parapara, Field's Track. —This place was visited last year; the number of possible pupils was too small to satisfy our Code rules. Parawera, near Kihikihi. —A visit was paid in November last. The population is scattered, but the case seems to be a good one. Pariroa, near Patea, West Coast. —Visited lately; the case is fairly promising, but Natives do not show great enthusiasm. An experiment should be made when a site can be secured. It would perhaps be a good plan to remove the Mawhitiwhiti buildings to Pariroa. Poroutawhao, near Levin. —This is a reasonably good case; the Department is awaiting additional information concerning it. Pukerimu. —This settlement is on the Tunnel-Stratford Eoad. It will probably be a good situation for a school. The surrounding country is good. It is likely that the Department will open up Taumarunui before proceeding further with Pukerimu. Ruapuke Island, near Foveaux Strait. —A building has been erected, and a teacher will be appointed shortly. Tangoio, near Petane, Hawke's Bay. —This application refers to a settlement of apparently small importance. However, inquiries are being made. Takahiwai, Whangarei Harbour. —The settlement will be visited shortly. The Natives appear anxious to have a school. Tapuaeharuru, Lake Boto-iti. —This very promising case was "hung up " because a Native township was to be established at the settlement. lam glad to say that tenders will soon be called for. Taumarunui, Upper Wanganui. —This is an important centre, or it soon will be. It ought to have a school. Te Haroto, Napier-Taupo Boad. —Tenders were called for in the earlier part of 1899. The season was unfavourable, and. so tenders were too high ; another attempt is being made. Turanganui, near Martmborough. —Maori population is too small to support a school. Waitahanui, North-east Taupo. —This settlement is to be visited very shortly. Whakaki, Hawke's Bay. —The application is practically dormant, but Maoris will probably renew their application. Whareponga, East Coast. —This is a case that deserves and will receive careful attention. It is to be visited about the middle of the year, or sooner. Native Village Schools at Woek dueing 1899 oe some Poetion of it, and Examined oe Inspected, ob both. The basis on which the schools are grouped in this report is afforded by their geographical positions. Much information respecting the work done by individual schools, and estimates of their general efficiency as educational institutions, have been tabulated and printed in the Appendix to this Eeport (see Tables VI. and VII.). Additional information respecting the character and circumstances of particular schools will be found in the following paragraphs : — The Far North.- — Parengarenga, Mangonui, and Whangaroa. Hapua (examined 25th April, 1899). —The exceedingly rough Maori buildings have now served their turn, and have been replaced by a suitable schoolhouse and residence. The methods in use are intelligent, and the teaching is interesting. The habits of copying and of spitting have not been quite got rid of. Solid examination results were obtained.

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Te Kao (examined 24th April, 1899). —The grounds here are neat. There is a good vegetable garden, and, pipeclay soil notwithstanding, a small flower garden. The children (who live on the gumfields for most of the year) work well and honestly, and their behaviour is good : they show their earnestness by walking long distances to school, in some cases not less than eight miles. The teaching is in every point earnest and painstaking, and the methods are those of a man who thinks about his work. There are here, also, several pieces of apparatus, made by the Teacher, that point to the same kind of conclusion. It is, perhaps, hardly necessary to say that the results are on the whole very good. Ahipara (examined 22nd April, 1899). —The sand encroachment is giving much trouble here; there is still a small flower garden, but the paddock is almost covered with driving-sand ; also the schoolhouse and residence are threatened. In school there is a considerable amount of needless talking, and alacrity in obedience is not secured; also, there are attempts at copying. The attendance has been very irregular, and there has been great want of punctuality. The examination, however, shows that good work has been done by the school generally, in spite of the weak places in it. Pukepoto (examined 21st April, 1899). —Children work quietly and. well, and are attached to their teachers. The results of the examination are uneven; arithmetic and physical geography should be stronger. However, much work of a high order had been done. The teacher, Mr. Dunn, had for a considerable time been rinding his health impaired, and his bodily vigour no longer adequate to the task of teaching a Native school. Medical and other evidence to this effect having been produced, Mr. Dunn was allowed to retire. The Department has thus lost a very satisfactory teacher. Pamapuria (examined 20th April, 1899). —Teachers and scholars are on very good terms here, and punishments are not found necessary. The teaching is vigorous and direct. The school presents a very creditable appearance, and there seems to be every reason to hope that it will continue to do so. The Master has had some success in persuading the Maoris to cultivate vegetables and wheat; one Maori had 9 acres of wheat, another 2, and so on. Peria (inspected 28th April, 1899). —The school has been at work less than three months, but there is very good reason to hope that we may again see here a flourishing and thoroughly satisfactory school. It will, of course, be strange if the large attendance does not fall off somewhat, but enough children should remain to enable the teachers to do really capital work. Parapara (examined 27th April, 1899). —The number of passes is satisfactory, but there is room for improvement in the character of them. The nature of the results suggests that there is weakness in one or more of the following directions—very possibly in all three of them : (a) The testing of the results of each lesson ; (b) independence of working; (c) sufficient use of English by pupils and scholars. It should be especially remembered that language lessons concern the ear and the tongue much more than the eye and the hand, especially in the case of young scholars. In Maori schools all questions should be answered in good English sentences. The teaching is in some respects earnest and intelligent. Kenana (examined 29th April, 1899). —This is but a small school; the average for the quarter preceding the examination was only H'4l; but the people do their best and send every available child. The results were satisfactory. A new master has been appointed to Kenana, which is really a capital training-ground for a teacher not yet accustomed to Maori school work. Te Pupuke (examined Ist May, 1899). —The number of small children is considerable; these show some want of attention. The elder children work heartily and honestly, and their manners are good. The garden is becoming attractive in spite of the drawbacks that attend gardening in stiff soil. It is very pleasing to note that both parties of Natives still pull together in matters relating to the school. The results were unequal; here was strength, there weakness. It may be added that the children often seem ignorant when it is only power of expression that is wanting. English is the "key subject" in Native schools. To obtain correct and confident speaking of English should be the constant aim. Whakarara (examined 2nd May, 1899). —Already the Teacher has a prettily laid out flower garden, and a useful vegetable garden. The grounds throughout are neat. Both parents and children show great affection for the school and the teachers; the children work honestly. The teaching is energetic, painstaking, and intelligent. Considering the short time that has elapsed since the previous examination the results are very good. The people are themselves putting up a dividing-fence to cut off the playground, and are thus setting an excellent example. Hokianga District. — Mr. T. L. Millar, Local Visitor. Utakura (examined Bth August, 1899). —The children work very fairly well, but show listlessness occasionally. Eesults are not very large, but, circumstances considered, they are satisfactory. The population is widely scattered, and the winter roads are exceptionally bad; besides, the school is very new. Yet it stands comparison with several long-established schools in the district without being put to shame. There is one feature of the work that should be amended without delay : " sing-song " recitation should be abolished. Whakarapa (examined sth August, 1899). —But few passes were secured. Attendance had been small and irregular. The Maoris are not altogether to blame for this. The valid grounds for not regarding their default too severely are: (a) Difficulties with roads, which are long and muddy, with creeks which are tidal and often impracticable, and with hills which are high and steep ; (b) the weather this year has been very bad; (c) there has been widespread and severe disease, with some fatal cases. Still, there is much apathy in the settlement, and unless marked improvement is shown speedily the Master should go to a more promising district; he could, with opportunity, do excellent work.

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Matihetihe (examined 17th April, 1899). —This little school continues to do good work, and it will become more and more useful as the Teacher gets a better grasp of her work. There is great reason to hope that she will acquire directness of aim and good methods, and become very capable. She is earnest and careful. Whangape (inspected 18th April, 1899). —At the inspection great interest was shown in this newly reopened school. The Inspector was teaching during the greater part of the day, the object being to give a demonstration to a new teacher of the methods that long experience has shown to be productive of the best results. The Master does good work in the garden, which will probably soon again present the pleasing appearance it had some fifteen years ago. Whirinaki (examined 4th August, 1899). —Considering the broken-down condition this school was in three years ago, we must hold that its present form is highly creditable to all concerned in producing the alteration. Still, the school is only fairly on the road to be what the Master has it in him to make it. There are real difficulties; the school was not, in all cases, prudently handled by its former masters, and perhaps some of the Maoris expect more indirect privileges from it than they ought to have. The matter of supply of medicine (of which Maoris are curiously fond) appears to be the present bone of contention. The Master is endeavouring to adhere closely to the rules of the Justice Department on this subject. A firm, but good humoured, persistence will undoubtedly be beneficial. Omanaia (examined 2nd August, 1899). —The conduct of the children in school is remarkably good; the work goes on with the utmost smoothness. The Maoris, too, are again beginning to take interest in the school, after their long alienation from it. The people, who during the disturbances were hostile, are sending their children back to school. Six of these are regular attendants. The results are not quite up to those secured last year, but still they are very good. There was also a slight falling-off in method. Motukaraka (examined 3rd August, 1899). —The order is on the whole pretty good, and the tone has improved very considerably. The children seem to be happier than they were formerly, and to work with better spirit. Motukaraka people supply railway-sleepers. The Master thinks the attendance will be better when the puriri timber is all used up. On the other hand, it is to be feared that the end of the puriri supply will render it difficult for the people to obtain a living. The work at examination had its good points, but weakness appeared in the lower part of the school. Waima (examined Ist August, 1899). —The experience of the year 1898 makes the results obtained at the present examination seem particularly pleasing; weakness appeared in places— notably in geography and arithmetic —but nowhere was there serious ground for complaint, and much of the work was very good indeed. Many years have passed since the school was as good as it is now. The Maoris have really settled down after war's alarms, and seem to be sober and sedate. There is, on the whole, good reason to be quite hopeful about the future. Mangamiika (examined 7th August, 1899). —The Maoris of this district now take encouraging interest in their children's education. The zeal and industry of the pupils are quite remarkable. The difficulty in keeping one's clothes clean in this district is very great in winter time ; yet the children presented a very good appearance. At the examination a little weakness in English appeared here and there; also, the arithmetic was not very strong ; but the higher geography, the writing, and the reading were all highly commendable. Generally the work was very satisfactory indeed. Otaua (examined 31st July, 1899). —The children look better and healthier than they usually do here. Their clothing is warmer and of better quality. Forward movement of this kind always marks steps in advance in other respects. This place is "getting into line"; the Natives are becoming civilised ; less than twenty years ago the hapus of the district were actually at war ; in one engagement four Maoris were killed. The roads here are very bad, and first-class attendance is out of the question. The examination yielded fairly good results. Waimamafai (examined 15th April, 1899). —The children work honestly and well, but the attendance is not good ; also, there is some needless talking. There were, in connection with the reading, some symptoms of a return to old and imperfect methods of teaching. In normal circumstances the results could not rightly be regarded as higher than fair; but, in view of the discouraging surroundings of a declining school, and of the fact that only nine months have elapsed since the last examination, it is quite legitimate to say that good work has been done. Bay of Islands. Kaikohe (examined 29th July, 1899). —The order has improved considerably, but is not yet up to the mark. What noise there is now is a rather unusual compound of working aloud and sotto voce remarks on things in general. The parents, except the members of Committee, show insufficient interest in the school, but the tone is improving, although not very rapidly. Fair work was shown at examination, but there were specially weak spots in it. Geography, and the reading of the juniors, were very poor. Irregular attendance impairs the Kaikohe results generally. Atmospheric conditions are, it seems, unfavourable, and the number of days sufficiently wet to prevent the carrying on of school-work is unusually large. Ohaeawai (examined 28th July, 1899). —Although the season is far advanced the garden looks well; beautiful shrubs form a striking feature. Dual desks have been introduced, and, as a result, apparently, the order has improved greatly. The tone needs brightening up; it was noticeable that during silent work the children rested too often. Drill has improved. The results were hardly up to the standard reached the previous year. Mental arithmetic and senior reading were very good indeed, but, unfortunately, geography and junior reading were poor. Te Ahuahu (examined 27th July, 1899). —The misunderstanding with members of the Committee had not been got over, and the work was suffering in consequence. The lower part of the

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school is strong and good; the upper is much weaker. It is to be feared that the school will not do its best until the discord referred to above has been entirely banished, either by settlement of existing differences or by removal of the teachers. Taumarere (examined 25th July, 1899). —This is a good little school, very badly housed. The teaching here conveys the impression that the Teacher knows exactly what she is about —that she is working with a definite purpose to teach this or that, just then and there. The interest of the children is well secured throughout each lesson, and the silent work is done neatly and methodically. There were many passes, some of them very fairly strong. A little weakness appeared in geography and junior reading. Karetu (examined 27th July, 1899). —The results were highly satisfactory and creditable. The inspection work also was very good. Part songs are well sung ;so also rounds. In Tonic Sol-fa work the pointer is well followed. The singing as a whole is very good. " Swedish drill exercises are used here with capital effect." "The children were very neat-looking, and in all cases properly dressed. The school made a very good appearance." Whangaruru (examined Ist March, 1899). —Although some good work had been done, there was a considerable breakdown at the examination, and the number of passes was small. The reading and the arithmetic both require strengthening, especially the latter. I look forward confidently to a better pass for next year. This school is a most useful one ; it is very remote from civilisation. Poroti (examined 25th February, 1899). —Order has improved somewhat; the pupils are more fully under control. The apathy of the parents has been remarkable, and the Master has found it difficult to make headway. There are traces of effort and of actual improvements that would have been fruitful of good results if the people had shown even a small amount of earnestness about the education of their children. Taiharuru, (examined 23rd February, 1899). —The rule is very mild indeed, quite as mild as it could be without being in the least weak ; the order is very good. The Master is inclined to take a gloomy view of the prospects of the school, and this view will be more than justified if the Maoris do not bestir themselves to improve the attendance. Much of the written work is very good, and generally the results of the examination show that, with a little more practice in our special work, the Master will be able to take a high place among our strong teachers. Otamatea (inspected 9th May, 1899). —As the school had been at work little more than two months, and as none of the pupils had been previously at school, it was thought unnecessary to hold even a formal examination. The school had begun to show the usual effects of useful work, and of organizing ability in the teachers. Goromandel, Waikato, and King-Country. Manaia (examined 6th March, 1899). —The children are on excellent terms with their teachers, and the school tone generally is good. I saw, however, a little copying, and one boy had to have his ears boxed —a dangerous remedy, one would think. The examination work was on the whole very fairly satisfactory, some of it being excellent. The school has made a great advance during the year, and the Master deserves credit for his capital work. Something has been done in the way of technical work, and more is to follow. Rakaumanga (examined 3rd March, 1899). —At examination time the school was in a very unsettled state ; the new buildings were in view, and not yet ready, while the schoolroom in use was a Maori runanga-house, inconvenient in every respect. The Teachers, however, were making the best of a difficult position, and the children seemed to be '• taking to " them. The tone wants rectification. Copying and so-called helping were very common. It is hardly possible to get high results in such a building, but there had been decided improvement; the strongest work was the writing, which was generally good ; the weakest was the English, but even this had improved. The extra subjects were satisfactory. Baorao (examined 10th March, 1899). —The children here are decidedly well behaved. The Maoris are interested in the school, and there are no signs of any disagreement. As might have been expected, the number of passes was not very great; it is not possible to prepare the ordinary Maori child for the Second Standard in two years—the time that the school had been open. This fact being taken account of, results were satisfactory. Kawhia (examined 9th March, 1899). —The growing of wheat, long neglected here, has been reintroduced by the Master, who bore the first cost of the experiment to some extent. The venture has been partially successful, but work in connection with the wheat has sometimes served as an excuse for keeping pupils at home. Technical work has been done with good results. I saw saddle-straps, girths, surcingles, belts, wallets, &c, that had been made by the boys, who take much pride m their work, and with good reason. Except in reading, which was not fluent enough, and in English, in which the making of sentences had been hardly sufficiently practised, the results were good. This may be considered a very valuable school. The Master is striving for further development of technical work; what was done up to a certain point was done by the Master's unassisted efforts, and this was so satisfactory that Government has seen its way to provide for future operations a suitable workshop equipped with necessary tools and implements. Kopua (examined Bth March, 1899). —The school-grounds are made excellent use of by the master and his family; this is a very important kind of object-lesson in a country district. The arithmetic is rather weak here ; in other respects there is great reason to be satisfied. The English and the spelling deserve high commendation, and so does the health-work. On the whole the results are very decidedly good. The Master's zeal and success give great satisfaction. Te Kuiti (examined 27th November, 1899). —The school tone is very fair, and it is rapidly improving. The Teachers are getting a good grip of the children, but outside interest is weak as

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yet. The spirit of old Maoridom is still mighty within the district. The Maoris are much given to hospitality, and have calls on their liberality that make them none too well off, in spite of their favourable position and abundant resources. The examination brought to light numerous traces of hard and successful work done by the two teachers and their pupils. Preparatory work was very good. Te Waotu (examined 13th March, 1899). —The site as a whole is made good use of, although some portions of it are weedy. The order is greatly improved. The parents show interest in the school, but not enough to secure regularity of attendance. Rabbiting here takes the place of gum-digging as a perturber of the attendance. It made the examination results disappointing, although the inspection work was better than it had been for many years. Hot Lakes District. Banana (examined 25th May, 1899). —The parents still take good interest in the school; they expect great things from it, and are not disappointed. All the children except the very little ones work with zeal and alacrity. At examination excellent results were secured. This school now fairly deserves to be called one of our very best. The success is all the more striking when contrasted with the defeats that we have experienced in this district. Kindergarten work could be well managed here, and it would be of great service. Te Awangararanui (examined 27th May, 1899). —The "preparatories" had been carefully taught, and showed well at examination. Only one failure of the older children that had attended regularly occurred, but the attendance generally had been poor. The Maoris are not altogether responsible for the irregularity; it is the hard conditions of Galatea life that mark out the limits of the moderate success attainable at Awangararanui. It was plain, however, that the removal of the school had been beneficial. It should be mentioned that famine had caused the school to be closed during the last quarter of 1898. Te Hoiihi (examined 30th May, 1899). —Here, as at Galatea and Te Whaiti, the school had suffered much from a three months' enforced vacation. This is one of the most secluded schools in New Zealand, and this fact partly accounts for the difficulty experienced by the pupils under examination ; they cannot readily catch the drift of questions. This is, however, hardly an excuse for shortcomings; it ought rather to serve as a stimulus, and as an indication that additional care should be bestowed on this most important matter. The examination results were poor, but the inspection results were rather encouraging. Te Whaiti (examined 29th May, 1899). —The people here are not used to European ways; they wish to have a school, and also to make it a sphere for petty tribal squabbles. However, the relations of Teacher and pupils were good. The results were small, but, considering the circumstances in which they were produced, I call them quite respectable. The Master deserved a much better school, and he has been appointed to one. Te Teko (examined 23rd May, 1899). —The site is now pretty well grassed; this holds, too, of Te Teko generally. For many years after the Tarawera eruption there was but little grass in the district. The school order is not very good, and there is a want of punctuality. The school is below the average in the matter of dress. Only one pass was secured. There were enough bright spots in the work to make one hope that next year's work might be better. The Teacher had, in the course of the year, suffered much from domestic affliction. Bay of Plenty. — Lieut.-Colonel Roberts, N.Z.G., S.M., District Superintendent. Paeroa (examined 17th May, 1899). —The interest of the Maoris in their school has revived, and they have mustered many pupils; the establishment of a " Pakeha school "at Te Puna has put the Paeroa people on their mettle. In the lower division the pupils were all young, and none passed ; higher up the work was satisfactory, and creditable to the teacher. Still better results will be forthcoming next year, all being well. Huria (examined 16th May, 1899). —After the examination it was recommended that this school should be closed. The children were all very young; three managed to pass the First Standard, and there were many traces of work actually done. It seemed useless, however, to give the school any further trial, for, either through the circumstances of the district or the apathy of the parents, children have hardly ever remained long enough at school at Huria to do any real good. The case is still under consideration. Te Kotukutuku (examined 15th May, 1899). —It is pleasing to find that the people of this isolated district are raising oats, wheat, maize, and potatoes for the Tauranga and Waihi markets ; this work is, of course, a powerful civilising agency. The alleged frequency of " witchcraft" is a less pleasing feature, but no doubt the superstition will disappear in time. The school is doing capital work, and requires only continuous care and judicious nursing to make it a complete success. The physical conditions of the school, the garden, and the sanitation are being very well attended to. Papamoa (examined 18th May, 1899). —Seeing that no passes were secured it will seem paradoxical to say that fair work had been done ; but this was really the case. The Teacher has had very hard luck; till within a short time before the examination work had had to be done in a cramped and altogether unsuitable building very difficult of access, and there had been an influenza epidemic of considerable severity shortly before the inspection took place. There should, however, be a really good result next year, if the Maoris give the Teacher the advantage of a good attendance ; they probably would do so if her bearing to them were somewhat more conciliatory. Te Matai (examined 19th May, 1899). —The Te Matai staff is exceptionally strong and good, and the inspection results noted were of a very high order. The examination work, too, was as a whole of a pleasing character, but the low average age of the pupils, and the fact that a considerable proportion of the children are somewhat less bright than the usual run of Maori children,

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caused the number of passes and the examination percentage this year to be rather low. The schoolhouse, the residence, the garden and grounds are for both beauty and utility highly satisfactory. Even with the drawbacks mentioned above Te Matai is a model Native school. Matata (examined 20th May, 1899). —The parents of the pupils are evidently making a great struggle to keep their school going. Its condition had been very low towards the close of 1898, but a great change for the better had taken place at the beginning of 1899. In some subjects, notably mental arithmetic, decided strength was shown. The reading of the juniors was very weak. On the whole the results were, at the best, only fair. Given a regular attendance the Teacher produces good results. Otamauru (examined sth June, 1899). —The exigencies of the service-have necessitated the making of rather frequent changes here, and this has not been altogether advantageous to the school. It is hoped that a state of equilibrium has now been reached, one that will last for some time at all events. At the examination there was some reason to be disappointed with the English and the arithmetic, in other subjects the work was quite satisfactory. The older staff had been away too long a time, and the newer one had arrived too recently, to allow either to be justly blamed for shortcomings. Poroporo (examined 3rd June, 1899). —This was, on the whole, the best examination ever held at Poroporo. The work generally was very good. In some subjects—viz., dictation, " comprehension of what is read," writing, book arithmetic in all classes, and vivd voce arithmetic in Standard IV. —the work was all excellent: so also the needlework. The Teachers deserve warm commendation for the condition of their school. Slight weakness appeared in some parts of the geography, and in the junior mental arithmetic. As a civilising agency this school has been of great value ; also, the general tone strikes one as being very satisfactory. Buatoki (examined 2nd June, 1899). —A temporary falling-off in the attendance had taken place; the causes were (1) the removal of the Waimana children to their own school, and (2) the " crisis " which almost invariably comes to a new Native school towards the close of its second or third year; when parents find that the special kind of good expected from the school has not manifested itself, while they have not yet learnt the value of the work that it actually does. The results were quite as good as could be expected, and there is every reason to hope that next year's examination will show that the recovery now in progress has been completed. Wai-o-weka (examined 6th June, 1899). —After inspection the Chairman informed me that his aspirations were thoroughly satisfied ; on the one hand the children's education was being well attended to, and, on the other, there was no harshness in dealing with them. Never before had the school been so attractive to the children and so satisfactory to the parents. I am inclined to take the same kind of view, generally. At examination the upper class did very well indeed; the next class was fairly good; in the lower classes the reading was not up to the mark. Much of the work was unusually thorough. Omarumutu (examined 7th June, 1899). —The school tone is very good throughout; the children work with diligence and intelligence, and show much interest in their lessons. The examination was very satisfactory indeed; not only was the number of passes large, but their quality also was very good indeed. At Omarumutu most of the characteristic Native-school difficulties have been grappled with, and overcome to an extent that is highly creditable to the Master and his very hard-working Assistant. The school-building, however, was found to be very old and rotten, and it will soon have to be renewed. Torere (examined Bth June, 1899). —The order is decidedly good; the only fault in the discipline is that copying is sometimes observable. The Master finds difficulty in persuading the Maoris to agree with his views concerning dress and tidiness, and this at times leads to friction. At the same time the children are gradually becoming tidier, and even cleaner than they used to be. This is, of course, a kind of difficulty almost unknown in European schools. At examination the EnglishTand the reading were rather weak ; the rest of the work was pleasing. Omaio (examined 9th June, 1899). —There is now no disorder. The tone could hardly be better ; the schoolps looked upon by the Maoris as one of their most important interests. The results of the examination were not very extensive, but they were good. As the Master has grown older his work has become stronger, and on this occasion the passes were better than ever; of the failures many were almost passes. Mr. Bow's health has seemed to be very precarious. The school work now and again had prostrated him entirely, and he was afraid that he would be unable to continue working after the end of the current year. Te Kaha (examined 10th June, 1899). —Te Kaha School-room is not surpassed by any in the service tor elegant and serviceable arrangement. The work of examination was exceedingly pleasant; it was not that the number of passes was great, but, rather, that the quality of them was unusually high. Eight of the eighteen passes were made by thoroughly well trained children, and there is good promise for next year of even better things. At a meeting with the committee a proposal was made that children should not go to Te Aute or Hukarere as soon as they had passed Standard IV., but should stay on for a while and work for a higher Fourth, which should include deeper knowledge of Standard IV. subjects, and a considerable amount of technical work. The proposal is a good one, but special arrangements would be necessary to give effect to it. Baukokore (examined 12th June, 1899). —The front garden here is pretty, but the back of the residence is less pleasing. The state of the school was peculiar, and such as to cause grave anxiety. The upper school children were strong and good, while the lower classes were exceedingly weak. The Master now recognises the fact that if the Preparatories and the First and Second Standards do not receive much more attention it will, when the present seniors pass out, be impossible to get any passes at all. 2—B. 2.

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East Coast. Wharekahika (examined 14th June, 1899). —The principal difficulty at this remote school is to secure a sufficient attendance. At examination time the number was unusually low. The Department Would, however, hardly be very particular about the school's being quite up to the mark in this respect ; the Maoris are good people, and do their very best for the school, which they prize highly. Besides, Wharekahika is a capital training-ground for teachers. There is reason to believe that the present " trainees " will prove to be valuable additions to our staff. Tβ Araroa (examined 15th June, 1899), —The pupils show interest in their work and intelligence in doing it. There was weakness here and there in the school work, notably in the arithmetic of Standard IV., and in the geography generally ; on the other hand, much of the work was very strong and good. The inspection results were entirely satisfactory. The Teachers and the Maoris are on the best of terms, and there seems to be no reason for disturbing present arrangements. The singing and drill at Te Araroa are remarkably good. The drawing also is decidedly above the average. Bangituhia (examined 16th June, 1899). —The order here is remarkably good; when the Teachers are withdrawn from the school the silence is still perfect. The tone also is capital; the children are frank in manner, and enthusiastic workers. The elder Maoris seem year by year to value their school more highly. The school, like many others, has done much secondary good to the Maoris ; to use a common phrase, they have " spruced up " ; nearly all come to examination well dressed. The school made a very good appearance at the examination. The drill and the drawing were very good indeed, and some progress had been made with singing. At examination some weakness appeared in mental arithmetic and some want of fluency in reading. In other respects the school did admirably. There were fifty-nine passes in all, and a large proportion of them were strong, many being very strong. Besides this, the school is, generally, in first-class order. Tikitiki (examined 19th June, 1899). —After the examination was over a large and enthusiastic meeting was held in the schoolroom. The principal topic was the removal of the Teachers from the school; every one seemed very anxious that there should be no change. An assurance that removal was not at all contemplated seemed to make every one happy. Some weakness was shown in the Fourth Standard arithmetic. Standards below the Fourth did encouraging work. Much strength appeared in geography and " health." On the whole, good, solid results were forthcoming, and there is reason to be hopeful about next year. Waiomatatini (examined 20th June, 1899). —This is a rather difficult school to manage. The people would, I think, be sorry to lose their school, but they do not work for it so hard and persistently as some of the neighbouring settlements do for theirs. The work shown was pleasing : the pronunciation was remarkably good, and so was all the work for which skilful teaching was necessary—geography, health-work, and. comprehension were capital. I am sorry to say that the master, Mr. H. E. Kirkman, has left us for Gape Colony. The loss of such teachers as Mr. Kirkman is not easily made good; skilful and very industrious, he always managed to produce satisfactory work. Tuparoa (examined 21st June, 1899). —The new Master is already securing the peculiar kind of school-tone (an excellent one) that is characteristic of his system; the Maoris are showing satisfactory interest in the process. The examination results have been pleasing enough, but necessary changes in the recent past have been too numerous to be quite consistent with the production of first-class work, such as will in all probability be forthcoming next year. The lower part of the school is already in excellent trim. Higher arithmetic will require much attention, so also will geography. Hiruharama (examined 22nd June, 1899). —A recent large influx of pupils had led to very considerable unevenness in the work; several good, strong passes were secured, but there were many failures also, some of them very complete. The school was not free from the mutual-help principle, which is destructive because it almost always leads to copying, in arithmetic especially. Also, the staff of the school was hardly large enough. But, all circumstances being considered, especially the short time that had elapsed since the appointment of the new Master, there was no ground for complaint; the results may be characterized as very fair. Tokomaru (examined 23rd June, 1899). —The tone among the children is good; they work with energy and enthusiasm, and have much confidence in their Teachers. They attend well, although work in the neighbourhood is plentiful. Order is good throughout. A little weakness appeared here and there in the work—for instance, in mental arithmetic and in correction of faulty English; but on the whole the work was capital. A very high place indeed would have been gained had it not been for the large number of very young " Preparatories," who, of course, are a dead weight under our system of valuing the relative efficiency of schools. Hawke's Bay, Wanganui, and Wellington. Kokako (examined 15th February, 1899). —This school opened well, but it has been steadily declining for some time past. The circumstances of the school resemble those of Hiruharama (East Coast) to some extent, but the Tuhoe people have been but little in contact with Europeans. The district is mainly occupied by sheep-stations, and many of the Maoris depend for their livelihood on work given them by the lessees of these stations. The climate is rather severe also. The troubles that the school has passed through, and the changes in the staff, have tended to make the school a difficult one. In the circumstances the examination work was decidedly pleasing. Nuhaka (examined 17th July, 1899). —A good beginning had been made with the breaking-up of the ground, with planting, and with formation of flower-plots. So far as the parents are concerned there is a good tone. The attendance shows that. The pupils do not yet quite understand the run of things, but take a very fair interest in their work. The school had not been long in

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operation when the inspection took place, but a few passes were secured. It was plain that a very good beginning had been made. Tokaanu (examined 17th and 18th March, 1899). —This is a first-class school. Parents could hardly show more interest than is shown here. The pupils work zealously, and with a fair amount of intelligence; everything is done honestly. The "Glean and Tidy Club "of Tokaanu School is a very useful contrivance. Here, as at many other places, telegram-writing has proved itself to be a valuable means for teaching composition. The Master says in his log-book, "The children have worked steadily and heartily, and it has been a pleasure to be in charge of them." At the examination very good results were secured. All circumstances being considered, there is not at the present time a more satisfactory Native school under the Department. Karioi (examined 21st March, 1899). —This is an interesting school. Although it is not far from one of our main coach-lines it is secluded, and the climate is rather rigorous. The school is only some eight miles from Mount Buapehu, and pretty severe snowstorms are not very uncommon. Capital work is being done here: discipline is good, and evidently improving; organization is entirely satisfactory; good use is being made of the land available ; and the methods of instruction and the examination results are very pleasing. Altogether the establishment of this school has been of great utility. Pipirihi (examined 22nd March, 1899). —This is another member of an interesting group of new and successful schools. Situated at an important point on one of our much frequented tourist lines, and very conspicuous, it is really necessary that it should be a specially good school. In current phrase, "It quite fills the bill." The Maoris are not yet thoroughly used to Native-school ways, but they are becoming so. Bach succeeding visit secures increased attention, and there is reason to hope for the best in the case of this school. The work shown was mostly good; some of it was original. Generally the impression created was that there was thought in the work, and this is always satisfactory. The Teacher is ably assisted. Eeally useful kindergarten work is done here. Pamoana (Koriniti), examined 23rd and 24th March, 1899.—The number of passes secured at the examination was very large (fifty-four). Most of them were very good indeed. The most remarkable feature of the work is the admirable state of preparation of the whole school for further advance. The log-book states that examination-day is the day of the year at Koriniti. Many outward and visible signs give evidence of the enthusiasm of the people ; a concurrent tangihanga even had but small success in drawing public attention from what was going on in the schoolhouse. Ten adults attend, and with great regularity. The Chairman, Te Awe, is a diligent and successful pupil. There is good reason to hope that some of these seniors will go right through the course. Pamoana is one of our most striking schools. Papawai (examined 12th December, 1899). —Great improvement in the teaching of the juniors has taken place. Next year the advantages flowing from this change will be very discernible. The "diary" system is in use here, with excellent results. Allowance being made tor considerable weakness in slate arithmetic, the examination work was decidedly pleasing. The main "rock ahead" for this school is the problem of lodging and boarding the children. The Papawai people are in favour of the school, and take real interest in it, but they seem to have scruples about providing gratuitous board for all their relatives' children —which, indeed, is hardly to be wondered at. South Island and Stewart Island. Whangarae, Groiselles (examined 18th October, 1899). —The schoolroom was very clean, with everything in its place. The order was satisfactory, and the children worked well and honestly. There was evidently the best of feeling between the Teacher and the children ; it is quite plain that the school stands well in public esteem. Good progress had been made in the extra subjects, and generally the results were decidedly good. Waihawa (examined 3rd November, 1899). —This school presents an attractive appearance, and is doing creditable work. The order has improved, but there is still some needless talking. Eelations between pupils and teachers are good. Id 1898 it was decided, upon the urgent representation of the Waikawa Maoris, that their midwinter holidays should be extended to four weeks, the midsummer holidays being shortened to three weeks. The Maoris promised that for the future the school should be opened promptly on the expiration of the holidays. They have not kept their word. This is disappointing. Wairau (examined 20th October, 1899). —Influenza, followed by typhoid fever, had greatly interfered with the school-work. A good examination could hardly be demanded, but results were much better than might have been expected in such adverse circumstances. The Maoris appear to take insufficient interest in the school; this is shown by the fact that their children are often allowed to run wild in the settlement instead of attending school. Shortcomings are not due to faults on the part of the teachers, who teach earnestly and carefully, and really deserve a better school. Mangamaunu (examined 28th October, 1899).—The recovery of this school is very astonishing. It is now quite promising ; there are even several babies in the settlement. It is quite possible that the improvement, becoming more marked at every visit, in the people's way of living, accounts for the progressive change. The results of the examination were decidedly good. No child failed, . and the passes were generally satisfactory. The children work honestly, and their manners are good. Kaiapoi (examined 18th October, 1899). —All things being considered, it is safe to say that the results were satisfactory; not that the work shown at the examination was striking, but rather because there was well-marked promise of improvement in many directions, and more especially of future success in coping with the difficulties peculiar to the district. That much

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good has already been effected is certain, and there is real ground for hoping that this good will be of a permanent character. One promising feature is the renewed interest of the Maoris in their school. Little River (examined 19th October, 1899). —The general form of this school is good. Weakness appeared in junior geography, health-work, and drill, but the senior arithmetic was decidedly strong, and so were the reading, writing, and senior geography. The inspection report states that the school is on a much safer platform than that formerly occupied. The school is now really a Maori school with a mere sprinkling of Europeans in it; consequently, most of the old antagonisms are dying out. Also, as girls are more numerous than boys, it is probable that there will be a fairly large school here for many years to come. Rapahi (examined 17th October, 1899). —The Bapaki Maoris have always shown interest in their school. One would, on looking over the registers, be inclined to think that this interest is too weak to beneficially affect the attendance, but the irregularities of the past year have been to a large extent owing to epidemics. There is reason to be well satisfied with the results, certainly with those obtained in the higher classes. In the lower there are some traces of the effects of want of experience, but of course the junior Teacher is daily making headway in this respect. Arowhenua (examined 20th October, 1899). —The children presented a very pleasing appearance ; they were all well dressed and clean. The prospects of the school are by no means bad, although the attendance has become rather small; there are at least a dozen small children in the settlement, and, besides, the girls outnumber the boys. Much good, and some very good, work was shown at the examination; the strongest was found in the geography and the English ; the reading also, except that of Standard 111., was good. Marked weakness appeared in the senior arithmetic. The work of the Preparatories was unusually satisfactory. Waihouaiti (examined 23rd October, 1899). —The state of the buildings and grounds is extremely satisfactory. Outside interest in the school is as great as ever it was; the children work with intelligence and interest. The appearance of the school-children is good; solid comfort at home seems to be reflected in the looks and dress of the pupils. There is much to admire in this school. Its organization and discipline (the words being taken in the wider sense) are very good. Passes were fairly numerous and strong. Some want of thoroughness was perceptible in places, but on the whole the teaching had been careful and satisfactory. The Neck, Stewart Island (examined 25th October, 1899). —There had been a certain amount s oi misunderstanding between some of the Maoris and their new Teacher, and this had not been without injurious effect on the school. There is reason to believe that most of this difficulty has now passed, away, and to hope that the school will again be as useful as it was of old. The number of passes secured was not very large, but the work generally was pleasing. A good year's work may now be expected with very considerable confidence. The house and grounds in their present condition form a pleasing feature of a picturesque and interesting district. Percentages gained at the schools: Each of the following schools gained in the year 1899 a gross percentage of 80 or over 80 : Bangitukia, Waiapu, East Coast, under Mr. 11. A. Hamilton, obtained 933; Omarumutu, Bay of Plenty, 86-6; Banana, Lake Botorua, 86-2; Croixelles, Tasman Bay, 86-0; Pamoana, Lower Wanganui Biver, 85-4; Te Kao, North Cape, 85-2; Tokaanu, Lake Taupo, 84-2; Karetu, Bay of Islands, 83-7; Tokomaru, East Coast, 82-5; Poroporo, Bay of Plenty, 809 ; Taumarere, Bay of Islands, 80-0. The schools at the following places, named in order of merit, also gained 70 per cent, or more : Omanaia, Whirinaki, Waioweka, Waima, Wai-o-Matatini, Arowhenua, Te Araroa, Mangamuku, Te Kopua, Te Matai, Tikitiki, Te Kaha, Pukepoto, Paeroa, Pipiriki, Waikouaiti, Torere, The Neck, Wharekahika. Thus one school gained over 90 per cent, in 1899, as against one in 1898. Eleven schools gained over 80 per cent. in 1899, as against twelve in 1898. Thirty schools gained over 70 per cent, in 1899, as against thirty-seven in 1898, thirty in 1897, and twenty-six in 1896. Of the schools actually examined, seven made less than 50 per cent., as against six in 1898 and five in 1897. BOABDING-SCHOOLS, ETC. Under this heading a brief account is given of the work done at each of the four Native boarding-schools during the year 1899; there are also abstracts of the reports on the Church of England Mission Schools at Waerenga-a-Hika, Otaki, and Putiki, and on the Convent Native School at Matata. Information is also given with regard to the annual examination for the Te Makarini scholarships, which are provided for from a fund established by Mr. B. D. Douglas McLean, in accordance with the views and wishes of the late Sir Donald McLean and in remembrance of him. These scholarships, it may be added, have exercised an important and highly beneficial, although for the most part indirect, influence on the Native schools of New Zealand; they have also been instrumental in bringing to the Maori front many able young men who, without the aid of these scholarships, would probably have been quite undistinguished. St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Native Girls' School, Napier. —This school was inspected on the 21st February, 1899. It is an excellent institution; the teaching is of a high order; it has rigidity ( in the good sense, for it easily takes on a modified form when practicable and beneficial alterations are suggested: it perseveres in what is good, and readily becomes better. The domestic and external arrangements are, as always, quite satisfactory ; hygienic conditions have been receiving much attention at the instigation of the school authorities. The drainage now appears to be satisfactory : the fairly effective but very cumbrous system of tanks has been superseded by more modern contrivances. In the schoolroom the rule is mild, but there is no lack of firmness. The internal tone, as shown by the relations of pupils and teachers, and the spirit in which work is done, are very pleasing; the external tone, however—the relation of the parents to the school—is

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not quite good enough to insure a speedy return of pupils after the holidays. The examination of the school took place on the 6th December, account being then taken of the excellent singing, drawing, drill, and needlework shown at the previous inspection. No less than four girls passed the second-year examination ; the arithmetic papers given in deserved special mention. Of the four girls of the first-year class only one succeeded in passing ; the weakness appeared mainly in the English. It is pleasing to note that the paper-work of both the senior classes is improving. In the three junior classes the work was, as usual, very good indeed ; only three out of eighteen showed any weakness at all, and of these three only one required indulgence in order to pass. It should, perhaps, be noted that the work of the upper school is relatively much harder than that of the lower, and that it would be futile and unfair to expect similar percentages of passes in the two divisions. The work throughout was very satisfactory. The Protestant Native Girls' School, Hukarere, Napier. —The inspection of this institution took place on the 20th February, 1899 ; forty-seven girls were present, the number on the roll being fifty-one. Attention may, in the first place, be directed to the state of the flower-garden, which was very pleasing. This was partly due to the previous favourable weather, but very largely to the interest taken by one of the teachers in developing a taste for flowers and the culture of them among her pupils. This is a very small matter, some may be inclined to say, but it really means eesthetic culture, which may have far-reaching effects on the minds and lives of the girls subjected to it. The extra subjects are effectively taught : singing, drawing, and drill are all very good. Dressmaking is attended to by the Headmistress with pleasing results. Without discrediting in the smallest degree the work of previous teachers, who, indeed, have to a very large extent made the paths smooth for their successors, I may say that there is good reason to expect excellent work from the present staff. The examination of Hukarere was to have taken place on the 6th December. When this date was reached there were fifty cases of influenza in progress, and the examination had to be deferred till after the reopening of the school in 1900. The Native Boys' Boarding-school, St. Stephen's, Parnell, Auckland. — The inspection took place on the 23rd February, 1899, and the examination on the 10th May, 1899. The number of boys on the roll at inspection time was forty; the highest attendance in the course of the year was forty-nine. The discipline here is good : the order has been improved in the junior class, and it is now good throughout; there was only one record of corporal punishment, a case in which it was likely to be of real service. With regard to the general tone it may be remarked that there is no jarring at all; the boys are docile and very industrious. The freehand drawing of the seniors is particularly good; the juniors are using Marcus Ward's "Oriel Demonstration Sheets," with good effect. A rather difficult part song was pleasingly sung; also, the pointer was very well followed. Musical drill and gymnastics were both good. There is not room for the smallest doubt that the health of the pupils has been greatly benefited by the physical education given them. Much of the industrial work done here has been done with the view of improving the place rather than as a means of giving the boys technical skill, although this aim has not been entirely neglected. I paid what attention I could to the technical work, properly so called. The workshop in which this is done is not quite so convenient as it ought to be, but it may answer the purpose. It can accommodate two boys working, one boy looking on, and the instructor, Mr. J3utterworth. There is reason to believe that more satisfactory work is being done now that definite arrangements have been made to prevent the carpentry instruction from being temporarily thrust aside in favour of work far less important from the educational point of vifew. On the whole, there is now, I think, only one important feature in the St. Stephen's teaching that needs any modification: there should be considerably more spoken work than there is. All that is done with the pen is good, most of it is very good ; but the boys who come to St. Stephen's from outlying village schools still need somewhat more viva voce practice than they usually get. At the examination three boys passed the second year's test, and four that of the first year. All the seven candidates passed Standard IV. All the five candidates passed Standard 111. Two passed Standard 1., and the others were beginners. The examination percentage was 93-14; this result speaks for itself. The Native College, Te Aute, Hawke's Bay. —The inspection of the College was held on the 13th February. It is but rarely that one hears that anything inconsistent with good school-tone has happened at Te Aute. "Boys will be boys"; but this excuse is hardly needed here. With reference to the extra subjects, I may say that the College has an excellent cadet corps. Provision is made for about sixty-five boys. The singing is taught to two independent divisions. Drawing seems to receive but little attention at present; that is, I think, to be regretted, for Maori boys can be taught to draw really well. The seniors do a satisfactory amount of technical work. The carpentry book is an interesting record ; entries show that " all-round " teaching is given : e.g., 18th October, " Two boys sharpened a plane beautifully to-day " ; 22nd September, " The dovetailing takes a great deal of time, and when a false cut has been made the whole work has to be done again." Side-lights of this kind are valuable to one who wishes to form a correct estimate of the character of the work done. The following notes with regard to the methods were taken on the spot: The second master gave two lessons to the senior division : the first of these dealt mainly with questions of percentages and problems involving them; throughout there was a striving after perfect clearness of thought, and the expression of it, that was quite successful and very pleasant to see. The other lesson was in Latin composition; here there was careful analysis, followed by satisfactory synthesis, the principal object being in each case the finding of a middle step between the English and the Latin. I noticed that the boys were not always quite correct in their quantities. The Headmaster gave a thoughtful analytic and illustrative lesson on a portion of "Hamlet." At the examination, which was held on the 7th and Bth December, 1899, it was found that of the nine boys examined in Class 11. none gained less than 50 per cent., the work being very uniform and good, and also satisfactorily neat. Class I. showed work of similar quality, but less advanced. In

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Class 111. only one boy was very decidedly weak ; ten did well, and the answering of four of these ten was decidedly strong. A beginning in Latin had been made by this class ; it was found that the boys had not yet reached examination point in the subject. In Class IV. the three boys at the top of the class (which contains thirteen in all) gave great promise. One of these, the second boy, had made a very good beginning in Latin ; four others did well in the subject. The mathematical work was rather uneven, but two boys were very good indeed. I should imagine that only five or six from this class could advantageously attempt to do the work of Form V. next year. Walker, Hakiwai, and Bangi, the three boys at the top of the class, are very promising. The four classes dealt with so far have been taught by Messrs. Waitai and Delamere. Class V. did excellent work almost throughout. Puketoki (dux), McGruther, Pasley (European), and Mitchell sent in admirable papers, and only one member of the class gained less than 60 per cent. One strikingly weak place was found, however : the parsing and the grammatical analysis seemed far below the level of the rest of the work; quite usual sentences seemed to present great difficulties, even to some of the best boys. Class VI. : The matriculation class was, with the Fifth, taught by Messrs. Thornton and Baker, the Headmaster and the second master of the college. In order to give some idea of the scope of the examinations, a syllabus of subjects of examination for Class IV. is given, e.g. :— I. English : (1.) New Zealand Eeader, pp. i. to iii. (2.) Easy parsing, analysis, and paraphrase. (3.) Easy sentences in original composition. (4.) Memoriter —(a.) " The Fireman " ; (b) " Fight between ' Sounding Sea ' and ' Angry Sea,' " pp. 11l to 114. 11. Latin: (1.) Caesar —Book 1., eh. 1-12. (2.) Grammar. (3.) Very easy sentences from English into Latin and Latin into English. 111. Arithmetic: Elementary rules; vulgar fractions ; decimals; simple interest; reduction; weights and measures; measurement of areas and cubic contents; easy examples in profit and loss ; square root of whole numbers ; time and work ; easy problems. IV. Algebra: First four rules, brackets; simple equations; elementary factors; square root; problems. V. Euclid: Book 1., Propositions 1 to 34. VI. Physiology : Blackie's, Book I. The bottom of Te Aute College is now fairly well adjusted to the top of the best of our Native village schools ; that is to say, that for our best primary Maori schools Te Aute is a true secondary school. It may be added that, since Te Aute prepares boys for matriculation, there is a complete chain from our lowest standard work up to that for university honours. Two old Te Aute Maori pupils passed the medical preliminary examination last year; one of these went straight from the Te Aute classes, the other had been for a time a junior master in the school. Also, three Te Aute boys passed the matriculation examination in December last; two of these were Maoris, the other was a European. The Convent School at Matata, Bay of Plenty (examined 22nd May, 1899). — Good, honest work had been done in both divisions of the school, and the result was very pleasing ; in portions of the work —notably in knowledge of laws of health, in some of the mental arithmetic, and in the composition —rather unusual strength was shown. In the extra subjects, the singing was tuneful and pleasant to listen to, although the enunciation was not always quite distinct; rounds were sung, and notation-work was well up to the mark. Drawing was satisfactory throughout. Drill and other physical exercises receive adequate attention. The parents here are poor, consequently the pupils are not expensively dressed, but a sufficiently good appearance is made. The school tone is decidedly good ; so is the discipline generally—there is no disorder. The Mission School at Oiaki, West Coast, North Island (examined 9th August, 1899). —The school-work has been done in the face of considerable difficulty, the result, mainly, of irregular attendance. This irregularity has an apparently perennial source in the apathy of the people, and of late it has been intensified by sickness. Although the percentage gained was very low, the results can be regarded as satisfactory in view of the apathy and the sickness above referred to. There is good musical drill here, and the singing is pleasingly done. The drawing is somewhat below the mark. There is rather too much talking while work is going on, but there is no ground for serious complaint, in view of the fact that most of the children are small. Fifteen pupils were present; there are thirty-one on the roll. The Mission School, Putiki, near Wanganui (examined 7th November, 1899). —The number of passes secured was not unsatisfactory, but there was an absence of the strong passes that give nearly as much pleasure to the Inspector as to the Teacher. Some improvement in method had taken place since the previous inspection. The work is hard and honest, but a somewhat higher ideal had seemed to be necessary, and this the Teacher had evidently been trying to reach. The pupils seem fond of the school, and work honestly. The order is generally satisfactory. On the whole, there is some reason for being hopeful with regard to the school. The Mission School, Waerenga-a-Hika, near Gisborne (examined 19th July, 1899). —The examination results were very satisfactory. A little weakness appeared in the geography of Standards 11. and 111., but, except at the very bottom of the school, hardly anywhere else. The staff of the school is hardly large enough. It is understood, however, that funds for paying an assistant are not at present available. Strength above the average was shown in English, " health," and spelling; there were many other pleasing features, notably the geography of Standard IV. Extra subjects were well taught, drawing being the weakest of the three. The rule here is very mild. The garden has not been commented upon in previous reports, but the boys have cultivations of their own which they utilise very completely, producing in the season large quantities of European vegetables and fruit. I take it that this involves, in its way, a very useful kind of technical work.

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The Te Maharini Scholarships Examination, 1899. —Twenty-one candidates presented themselves at the six examination centres —at Auckland ; Eaorao, on Aotea Harbour; Tokaanu, near Lake Taupo; Waioweka, near Opotiki; Tikitiki, near East Cape; and at Te Aute College. The examination for the senior scholarship was held on the sth and 6th December; that for the junior scholarship on the 18th and 19th of the same month. Auckland was a centre for both of the examinations. There were eleven candidates for the senior scholarship; this was won by Watene Puketoki, of Te Aute College, formerly a pupil of Te Kaha Village School, and lately of St. Stephen's, Parnell, where he gained a junior Te Makarini scholarship two years ago. On the present occasion he made 72 per cent, of the marks, fie was followed by Walton Davis, of St. Stephen's, with 66-7 per cent. Two other St. Stephen's boys were a good third and fourth respectively. The open junior scholarship was gained by Keiha Hone Nutana, of Mangere Bridge Public School, Auckland, with 78-9 per cent. William P. Turei, of Eangitukia, gained the Native Village School Scholarship, with 66-8 per cent. He was followed by Henry Edwards, of Omarumutu, with 62-2 per cent., and Pau Mariu, of Tokaanu, with 59-7 per cent. There were ten candidates in all for the junior scholarships examination. The junior work this year was decidedly above the average, although three of the candidates were much below the mark. The senior candidates were remarkably good ; only one failed to gain over 50 per cent. I learn that the Trustees are pleased at finding that so many candidates came forward for examination ; they believe that the effect of this examination must be beneficial to Native education. Statistics. A statement of expenditure incurred in connection with Native schools maybe found in Tables Nos. Land 11. of the Appendix, Table No. 11. being a classified summary of Table No. 1., which gives full details. Table No. 111. states the ages of the children whose names were on the Native-school registers at the end of the December quarter. Table No. IV. contains statistics of the attendance during the year 1899. In Table No. V. there is given as full information as the department could obtain respecting the race of the children attending Native schools. Table No. VI. specifies the results obtained at the standard examinations during the year. In Table No. VII. the examination results are combined with those of a valuation depending on estimates made from inspection. These kinds of results taken together form a baeis for the computation of what is called the " gross percentage," and on this percentage the relative positions of the individual schools for the year 1899 are made to depend. Table No. VIII. gives the classification of pupils on the school-rolls in December, 1899. Table No. IX. shows the average age of pupils at the time of their passing the standard examinations in 1899. Table No. X. gives the number of pupils attending Native boarding-schools, of scholars holding University or Nursing Hospital Scholarships, and of expupils of Native schools serving apprenticeship at the close of the year. A few statistical facts and inferences follow ; they are based on the tables above referred to : The total expenditure on Native schools for the year 1899 was £23,031 os. 6d. Deducting £110 15s. 8d paid from Native reserves funds, £1,751 16s. 9d. cost of boarding-schools, University Scholarships (including from Civil List, Native purposes, £53 10s.), Nursing Hospital Scholarships, and apprentices; £57 9s. 7d. travelling-expenses of scholars sent to boarding-schools; £5,457 13s. 6d. cost of buildings, fencing, furniture, &c, we have a net expenditure of £15,764 os. Bd. on Native village schools, as against £15,183 19s. for the previous year. Dividing this by the (strict) average attendance, 2,435, we obtain £6 9s. sd. as the cost per head per annum of average attendance. With regard to Table 111. it is sufficient to remark that 7-44 per cent, of the children in attendance are above or below the age-limits (5-15) for public-school scholars. This is owing to the fact that there is no stated limit for Maori pupils. Table IV. gives us a strict average attendance of 2,435 for the year 1899 ; for 1898 it was 2,341. Thus an increase of ninety-four is shown, in spite of the severe epidemic sickness that has been characteristic of the past year. The table gives percentages of weekly roll-number, showing the relative regularity of attendance at the different schools. The names of the nine schools at the head of the list in order of merit are —Waiotapu, Matihetihe, Omaio, Croiselles, Torere, Poroporo, Tβ Kaha, Omarumutu, and Pamoana. The highest percentage, that of Waiotapu, is 95-24. The average for the year is 74-80, against 76-60 for 1898. The final result given in Table V. shows that the percentage of children, predominantly Maori, attending Native schools in 1899 is 79-97, against 80-65 for 1898. The percentage of half-castes is practically the same as it was last year. The percentage of children predominantly European has increased from 9-42 to 10-18 per cent. Table VI. shows that the total number of standard passes for 1899 was 1,185, against 1,267 in 1898. The decrease of eighty-two'"was largely due to the fact that really satisfactory passes in Standard I. —that is, passes satisfying the code requirements —were insisted on; 403 children passed Standard I. in 1899, against 518 in 1898. In the other standards improvement was almost general. Table VII. has been sufficiently dealt with above. With regard to Tables VIII. and IX. it is sufficient to remark that the high age at which pupils begin to pass standards is an indication of the fact that many Maoris begin their education when they are already well advanced in boyhood or girlhood. In the case of new schools many begin still later on. Table X. explains itself. It may suffice to remark that it is not improbable that regulations with regard to apprentices to trades will probably be materially modified, or perhaps superseded, by regulations affecting technical instruction in connection with Native schools.

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A Beief Betrospect of Native-school Work. Just now, when Native village schools in their more fully developed form have completed their twentieth year of existence, the time would seem to be suitable for taking a backward glance along the road that has been traversed by them. Near the close of the report for 1880-81 the following passage occurs: " That the Maoris will ultimately become Europeanized and be absorbed into the general population does not admit of doubt. It is easy to see that the process has already commenced, and that it is going on with more or less rapidity in most parts of New Zealand. But it is a great mistake to suppose that the change can be effected in a year or two, or even in a generation—to suppose that schools or any other agency can bring about in a short time such a revolution as has in other countries required centuries to complete. The Native schools are doing and will do much good; it is useless to expect that they will, in a few years, change the character of a whole race to such an extent that its members will be prepared to abandon all their old habits, traditions, prejudices, and modes of living. Nor is it at all plain that such an utter change should be brought about hastily, even if the thing were possible. Past experience seems to show that uncivilised peoples cannot, without imminent risk of extermination, give up their old ways of life all at once, and adopt others, for which they can be really fitted only by slow and gradual changes in the conditions, subjective and objective, under which they exist. If it can be shown, as I believe it can, that the Native schools as a whole are effecting considerable improvements in the mental, moral, and physical condition of our Maori fellowsubjects, and that they are having the effect of familiarising them with the better class of European ideas and customs, then they are doing all that can or ought to be expected from them. There are a few exceptions, but in the great majority of the Maori districts those best qualified to judge say that this is just the kind of work that the schools are doing, and that they are the best means yet contrived for helping the Maoris to help themselves." There was, of course, nothing very original in this passage even when it was written. What worth it possessed was to be found in the fact that it was a tolerably clear statement of the Native-school problem as it confronted us at the beginning of the " eighties." The really interesting circumstance for us is that twenty years afterwards, when we are fast approaching the end of the nineteenth century, the statement is just as true and complete as it was when it was written. Are we then to understand that Native schools are just jogging along quietly and smoothly, very much as they did twenty years ago ? That is by no means the position. Certainly, the direction and the goal remain unchanged, but there has been decided progress in that direction and towards that goal. A few brief paragraphs will give some idea of the nature of the actual progress made. In the first place, it is necessary to state that the original Native schools were founded under the auspices of the Native Ministers and by the old Native Department. Eight years and more of work dcre by these schools, with much energy and earnest desire to benefit the Maori race, could hardly fail to produce solid results—sufficient, in fact, to form a basis for a more completely organized system. And, indeed, it did not fail: perhaps its attempts to meet wants as they arose, to supply needs as they were felt, did more in the way of making a good beginning than could have been achieved by any full-blown scheme based on, say, one of the education systems then in vogue in New Zealand. It should be remembered that the problem to be dealt with was almost entirely new : it was to bring an untutored but intelligent and high-spirited people into line with our civilisation, and to do this, to a large extent, by instructing them in the use of our language, and by placing in Maori settlements European school-buildings, and European families to serve as teachers and especially as exemplars of a new and more desirable mode of life. It would perhaps be difficult to say who was the first to set up this admirable ideal, remarkable alike for its thorough-going effectiveness and for its simplicity; but at all events it was fully operative when the Education Department took over the Native schools, and it had already been productive of much good to the Maori. As the greater portion of this article will, to some extent, appear to be a criticism of the old Native Department's methods, and a statement of the advances made by the Education Department, it is only right to acknowledge —(1) that the leading idea that governs Native-school work was already in full operation when we took the schools over; and (2) that, in face of the remarkable and previously unknown difficulties, the Native-school authorities had managed to make their Native schools a going concern, and to get much useful work done by them. To this it may be added that the Native schools were taken over by the Education Department just at the time when it was necessary that somewhat more technical knowledge than had been previously available should be brought to bear upon them. One of the most striking of the changes that have taken place is in what may be called the externals of our schools—the sites in general, the gardens, schoolhouses, and residences. It must be confessed that there were a few pleasing school-sites and-gardens connected with Native schools even in 1880, but these were quite, exceptional. Now very many of the teachers' gardens and grounds are in first-class condition. In the old times, there is reason to believe, the authorities considered any building that would keep out most of the rain, and give more or less complete shelter from wind and sun, a tolerably satisfactory Native schoolhouse. In some districts, at all events, this mistake appears to have been largely influential. The effect was decidedly bad. In most cases the Maoris could see at a glance that their schools were far inferior to those put up for the European children. The Maoris do not like to be slighted, and they took umbrage at what they considered humiliating treatment. They were well aware that in the main they contributed to the revenue just as other people did, and, no doubt, thought that they ought to get the same kind of value for their money. In the early days, too, the residences of some of the teachers were altogether inadequate for their needs; there were cases —extreme ones —in which teachers with large families had no more living accommodation than was afforded by two small rooms attached to their

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schoolrooms. One finds little difficulty in believing that the civilising influence of such school residences was but small. At the present time our schoolhouses, residences, school-glebes, and gardens are turned out of hand in such form that teachers and committees alike may take a real pride in them. It may be added that our school furniture, which twenty years ago was common and poorly adapted to its purpose, is now, besides being pretty uniform, neat and handy and well up to date. Just here, perhaps, the financial question comes in, How could all these improvements be paid for without unduly increasing the cost per head of the education of Maori children? For our present practical purpose it may suffice to say that our cost per head is now very considerably less than it was years ago. The increased average attendance far more than neutralises the increased average expense resulting from the improvement in the accommodation. A few figures will show how great this increase has been : At the beginning of 1880 the total number of children " belonging " to the schools was 1,336; at the end of 1899 the number was 3,065. The strict average for 1880 was 1,171; for 1899 it was 2,435. Thus it will be seen that the attendance has been considerably more than doubled. It may be remarked incidentally that the increase here shown is a rather striking one, seeing that it has taken place among a race supposed by many to be losing heart and dying out. It is worth mentioning, too, that these high numbers have been secured in a year remarkable for the frequency and severity of epidemic sickness in Maori settlements. The organization of our schools is altogether different from what it used to be. The introduction of a standard system was really a first-rate improvement. It gradually induced the teachers to direct their efforts towards the attainment of definite ends. Next came the perception of the advantages to be derived from classification of children with reference to the ends that they were capable of attaining, and consequently were expected to attain. Gradually all other bases of classification—such as size, age, importance of parents of pupils— became quite obsolete, and classification was made to depend on educational considerations alone. Time-tables also were gradually improved. Due proportionate attention was given to the various subjects. Slowly but surely approaches were made to strict observance of timetable precepts. From time to time, as the schools have been able to bear the change, the standards have been raised, and the incidence of effort on particular subjects has been changed in accordance with the improved ability of the children and.the increased skill of the teachers. Also the Department has seen fit from time to time to make changes in salaries, holidays, apparatus, &c, or to remove pressure here and bring a stimulus to bear there, in ways that seem to have led in the end to greatly, increased efficiency. It may be added that while uniformity has been striven for as a real good, endeavours have been made to avoid as far as possible pedantic demands for conformity to one stereotyped plan. Where a teacher shows power and originality the display of these is welcomed, even if it lead to considerable aberration from the usual course. It is not necessary to deal at length with the subject of discipline in the Native schools. I said in my report for 1880, " Maori children if properly dealt with are very easy to manage. They take great interest in their work when taught intelligently, and they are seldom disposed to be either sullen or disorderly." I see no reason to change the views thus expressed. Discipline, it may be added, depends very largely on the personal disposition and characteristics of the master. One man is a good disciplinarian and another is not, and there, for the time, is an end of the matter. The man with the negative qualification, however, is in many cases susceptible of indefinite improvement, and may in the end succeed in passing over into the ranks of good disciplinarians ; but the capacity for doing this implies, on the one hand, a latent power of self-control and faculty for concentrating attention and effort on the particular business on which one is engaged. There is nothing so likely to develop these latent powers as a thoroughly sound school organization. On the other hand, if a teacher is lackadaisical, or flighty, or incapable of taking interest in his work, he is most unlikely to be a good disciplinarian, even though he may by means of something very like cruelty be able to secure a death-like stillness in his schoolroom. It is, I believe, right to say that although our discipline is not always and everywhere quite what could be desired, yet under the influence of improved organization many inexperienced teachers who formerly failed to maintain good discipline have come over into the ranks of competent disciplinarians. In one way and another the thoroughly incapable teacher has been induced to leave us, the effective, if somewhat latent, eliminative agency being always the organization that has been gradually getting itself evolved in connection with our Native-school work; it is just this, too, that has tended to exclude from our ranks persons altogether unlikely to become competent and successful teachers. The only other matter that requires treatment is the improvement in the instruction given in Native schools—its nature and effects. . There are two points that should be briefly dealt with before an attempt is made to treat, with some completeness, the thesis to be maintained with regard to Native-school instruction—viz., that it is now, all things considered, very satisfactory. The two preliminary questions are—(l.) What are the cardinal Native-school subjects ? (2.) What ought to be the limit to our expectations with regard to Native-school work ? The cardinal subjects—if there are such—are certainly those on which success in teaching the other subjects entirely depends. Now, Maori children who can read and speak English with fair fluency can learn arithmetic and geography just as well as European children can ; these, therefore, may for our present purpose be considered quite secondary subjects. It might, perhaps, be objected that Native-school children cannot, in fact, treat the public-school standard arithmetic cards as well as European children can; but the truth of this statement would entirely depend on the knowledge of English possessed by the Maori children referred to. The truth is just as I have stated it: Maori children that know English do arithmetic quite as well as English children of 3—E. 2.

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similar age and general mental development. The reason of this will be shown later on. Writing correctly from dictation is, I believe, the only other cardinal subject. In our efforts, then, to make the attainments of our Maori children approximate to those of well-instructed European children we have to bestow our most careful attention on English, reading, and writing from dictation. In reply to the question as to what is the upper limit of efficiency for Native schools, I should say that we have no right whatever to expect Maori children in a Maori district—hearing in many cases no more English than that spoken by their teachers and by occasional visitors —to speak and write English fluently after being at school as " Preparatories " for two years, and in due course afterwards passing four standards. It must be remembered that for Maori pupils living in a settlement there is no complete break in the use of their mother-tongue as there is in the case of English boys sent to a French or a German school. In such cases the mother-tongue almost disappears, and the pupil has to concentrate attention on the language that is constantly being spoken around him. Our Maoris, on the contrary, spend four hours a day in school; during this time they hear good English. Perhaps, also, they spend an hour in the playground, where a kind of English is spoken, the educational value of which is very small. All the rest of their time is spent in the settlement, where they hear Maori, and generally Maori only. These being in the main the conditions under which English is taught to Maoris in Maori districts, it would almost seem that if clever young Maori boys and girls are, at the age of thirteen or fourteen, able to translate an easy piece of Maori into decent English, to correct grammatical errors in simple English sentences, to write a brief letter on some particular subject, to read and understand a tolerably advanced English book, to speak and understand ordinary English, and to write from dictation with considerable correctness, they do remarkably well. It is found that boys and girls of similar age who have attended European grammar schools or high schools very often fail to do as much as this with French or German, to say nothing of Latin. It seems, then, that, instead of setting the upper limit of our Native-school attainment at the ability to wield English as well-educated English children wield it, we should, perhaps, take the less prejudiced and empty-headed plan of asking our teachers to endeavour to bring all their Fourth Standard pupils up to the state of efficiency now reached by their best pupils, or, if this should be considered too severe, to set themselves the task of making all their pupils capable of dealing with English as well as grammar-school pupils of thirteen or fourteen deal with French or German. Now that the ground has been cleared to a certain extent, an attempt may be made to show what is the nature of the improvement that has taken place in Native-school instruction during the time that the Education Department has had charge of it. At the beginning of Native-school work in New Zealand the only available plan was to follow closely the old-fashioned methods in vogue. These methods, unintelligent as they were, had to be used without any exact notion as to the effects they would produce ; still less was there any distinct aim. Now, just here was the point where a divergence took place. The new management knew as little as the old what the aim ought to be, what the necessities of the case were. The difference was that strong determination to solve the enigma was brought to bear on it. In the first place, then, it was found that chaos rather than cosmos prevailed ; only one thing was clear—until light should come any system was better than none. Therefore a rough-and-ready attempt was made to draw up standards, to devise a time-table scheme, and to get a workable code of rules based on such experience of the past as was available. These measures soon began to effect improvement in some directions ; above all, a certain amount of light began to dawn, it became possible to see in what directions we were actually moving, and in what directions we ought to be moving. Soon a great mistake was corrected. It had been taken for granted that generally it was right to make some allowance for the fact that our pupils were Maoris, and that it was unreasonable to expect Maori children to do as well as English. For instance, in the case of reading it was thought absurd to expect thoroughly good pronunciation from Maori children. Hence we allowed ourselves to be contented with third- or fourth- or even seventh- or eighth-rate reading. The lightgiving thought that corrected this mistake was that we ought to be content with nothing but the best, whether our pupils were Maoris or Europeans ; that if we failed to get it at first, we ought to go on trying till we did get it. Many of our teachers took up this idea and made full use of it. At our examinations an " excellent " mark is used. It is given for first-class work only, and it is now very often secured by our Maori pupils for reading that is excellent so far as it goes. The next fruitful idea was that English is our most important subject. Of course, English always has great intrinsic importance, but it is also the master-key to arithmetic, geography, and other subjects. It had been found that children strong in English were strong in the other subjects ; also that inability to deal with simple problems was entirely owing to inability to make out what the English statement of them meant : the proof of the correctness of this view was found in the fact that problems given in English and found impenetrable were quite within a pupil's reach when given in Maori. The next feature developed is connected with the principle stated above, that nothing but the best should be judged thoroughly satisfactory. It was recognised that this principle might with very great propriety be applied to handwriting, seeing that Maoris have special faculty for this branch of school-work. It is now being done with success. What was, from our Native-school point of view, an important discovery dawned upon us in connection with the teaching of arithmetic; it was simply that problem work could be most effectually taught if taken in connection with viva voce arithmetic. This, again, was a development of the principle that success in teaching arithmetic very largely depends on success in teaching English. What may be called the mathematical thinking in connection with arithmetic presents little or no difficulty to ordinarily intelligent Maoris ; the meaning of English questions of a necessarily somewhat obscure character is an altogether different matter.

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The latest and perhaps most important principle that has come to light is that if Maori children are to thoroughly master the difficulties of the English language they must begin young. In a more practical form the principle amounts to this: that if children do well at the " preparatory " examination, and make a very strong pass in reading and English when they go through their First Standard examination, they seldom have any trouble in afterwards passing all the standards well. The reason for this is very obvious, but the principle took long to discover nevertheless. Generally it may be said, that if teachers put really hard and intelligent work into the first two years of the training of their scholars, they will be well repaid throughout the whole course for the trouble they have taken. The adoption of these principles, which now seem quite simple and even obvious, has rendered frequent alterations in the code and changes in the modes of teaching necessary, as well as in the scope and general direction of our work. It must at times have seemed to the teachers that as fast as one difficulty was mastered by them a new one was discovered and set up in place of the old one, and that there was no finality; nevertheless, they have as a body followed the lead most loyally and heartily, and in numerous cases teachers have given hints and indications that have been of very great utility—have pointed out how another turn might be given to the screw ! It seems to me that we have now secured a satisfactory standard of efficiency—that is, that the objects at which we aim are in the main what they ought to be, and that nothing more than changes in mere detail will be necessary. Such changes will tend to follow the success that we may achieve, and they will be of the nature of closer approximation to the public-school model, with probably a strong bias towards technical education. Indications may be seen in many districts of growing desire for such education. It may be added that the Department has long given a kind of technical scholarships which have proved to be of a more or less serviceable character. There is, however, plenty of room for expansion in this important direction, and there are many indications of its being about to take place. Of course, such changes ought to be made with great care, and not to involve starting before one is ready. It is, of course, one thing to have good aims and another to secure what is aimed at; but there is much real ground for satisfaction with what has been done. Table VII., given below, shows clearly to all who understand its structure that thirty of our eighty-eight village schools deserve to be called "very good," while eleven of these are excellent. Of the remaining schools a large proportion are doing solid work of one kind or another, in spite of some considerable drawbacks that prevent them from reaching the front. The cases in which radical change and improvement are urgently needed are but few. To conclude, I may draw attention to a rather singular feature of our Native-school work ; it is just this: Other educationists become more indispensable in proportion as they are more successful; we Native - school people become less and less necessary in proportion as we thoroughly succeed in performing the work that we have in hand. There is another peculiar circumstance connected with our teachers' operations: Although Native-school teachers are as hard workers and do as intelligent and certainly as noble work as any in the country, there is a tendency in some quarters to hold this work cheap, and even to look down upon the workers. But then, such views are not characteristic of those best qualified to have views on the subject, and so, perhaps, this little difficulty does not matter very much. I have, &c, Jambs H. Pope.

E.—2

20

Table No. 1. List of the Native Village Schools, and Schools at which Native Children are maintained by the Government of New Zealand, with the Expenditure on each and on General Management, during the Year 1899; and the Names, Status, and Emoluments of the Teachers as in December, 1899. In the column "Position in the School," H M means Head Master; H F, Head Mistress; M, that there is a Master only; F, Mistress only; A F, Assistant Female Teacher; S, Sewing-mistress.

Expenditure during 1899. a • ao o wen 8° .9ci .So GQ O a ■" C3 CD.®, c3 H County. Sohools. Salaries. Buildings, Other Ordinary Sites, Fencing, Expenditure. and Furniture. Total. Teachers of Village Schools at the End of the Year. Remarks. Mangonui Hapua £ s. d. 197 5 1 £ s. d. 1 13 0 £ S. d. 786 10 8 £ s. d. 985 8 9 Irvine, Mrs. L. M. Irvine, Miss M. Burgoyne, Rev. H. W. Burgoyne, Miss G. .. Newell, Miss S. A. MacKenzie, Rev. A... May, Miss R. Crene, P. .. Crene, Mrs. Crene, Miss M. L. Matthews, P. H. S. .. Dunn, Miss M. P. Maxwell, J. J. Matthews, E. W. D. Matthews, Miss E. .. Welsh, A. E. Welsh, Mrs. Tennent, Mrs. Tennent, Miss G. V... Tennent, Miss E. Stanton, T. C. Stanton, Mrs. £ s. d. 159 13 5 28 1 8 186 19 1 23 1 6 12 10 0 128 2 4 24 1 3 154 9 3 20 0 0 10 17 6 89 17 0 13 11 0 100 0 0 125 3 6 23 11 0 136 12 7 46 17 0 146 7 9 15 3 3 8 0 0 158 1 10 42 11 0 V. HP AP HM AP S HM AP HM AP AP HM AP M HM AP HM AP HP AP S HM AP Te Kao .. 230 6 7 32 12 1 19 16 11 282 15 7 V. Pamapuria 152 6 5 3 18 0 156 4 5 iii. 1 Ahipara .. 185 19 4 11 11 0 197 10 4 V. Pukepoto.. 151 7 11 12 11 4 163 19 3 V. Kenana .. Parapara 110 0 0 142 15 3 20 12 0 6 10 9 130 12 0 149 6 0 V. V. With house allowance, £26 per annum. With allowance for horse, £10 per annum. With house allowanoe, £10 per annum. Whangaroa Peria Te Pupuke 148 18 3 179 7 9 40 7 0 8 15 0 191 12 6 6 0 0 380 17 9 194 2 9 IV. 8 V. Sohool reopened in Maroh quarter. Whakarara 196 13 10 9 11 1 29 17 6 236 2 5 V. School not yet opened. School reopened in March quarter. Hokianga Touwai .. Whangape 145* 0 3 77 2 11 247 6 4 28 3 8 247 6 4 250 6 10 Logan, A. J. Logan, Mrs. Anderson, A. Anderson, Mrs. Flood, R. P. Kendall, Miss S. Winkelmann, C. P. Winkelmann, Mrs. .. Geissler, H. W. Geissler, Mrs. Burr, Miss H. M. Burr, Miss J. G. Danaher, T. J. Minchin, T. M. Minchin, Mrs. V. HM AP HM AP M P HM AP HM AP HP AP M HM AP 124 6 1 39 10 0 127 7 8 23 1 3 115 1 2 61 6 8 178 11 11 43 8 6 117 15 7 24 18 0 86 18 6 9 4 3 114 14 4 148 11 2 34 1 6 Utakura .. 156 9 3 11 17 6 197 19 4 366 6 1 II. 6 Whakarapa Matihetihe Whirinaki 139 1 10 57 11 4 234 8 8 12 0 0 4 12 10 17 19 7 10 0 0 0 13 0 23 5 0 161 1 10 62 17 2 275 13 3 V. V. II. 6 Waima .. 125 16 8 24 7 6 150 4 2 V. With allowance for conveyance of goods, £5 per annum. Omanaia .. 104 9 7 15 10 0 119 19 7 V. Motukaraka Mangamuka 128 6 10 182 7 3 9 2 0 25 19 3 137 8 10 208 6 6 IV. III.

21

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Waimamaku Tobin, W. H. J. Tobin, Mrs Gordon-Jones, Miss J. Woods, G. E. Woods, Mrs. Hawkins, T. B. Hawkins, Mrs. Johnson, Miss S. H... Patrick, J. K. Patrick, Miss M. J. Tautari, Mrs. Batson, P. T. W. Batson, Mrs. Broughton, J. H. Broughton, Mrs. Ablett, C. W. Bay of Islands Otaua Ohaeawai Kaikohe .. Karetu .. Whangaruru 91 15 7 128 15 3 135 6 0 101 4 6 133 16 0 3 17 6 1 10 0 12 9 0 1 10 0 3 11 3 20 0 95 13 1 130 5 3 147 15 0 102 14 6 139 7 3 V. IV. iii. V. V. AP P HM S HM AP P HM AF P HM AP H M S M 8 15 6 93 9 11 114 16 5 12 10 0 110 0 7 24 16 7 99 18 8 117 0 3 15 19 0 115 6 5 104 8 6 7 14 0 144 10 1 12 10 0 100 13 7 Taumarere Te Ahuahu 118 7 9 117 8 7 0 8 6 118 16 3 117 8 7 V. III. 6 Whangarei Poroti 158 18 7 3 5 9 0 6 6 162 10 10 V. Taiharuru Takahiwai Otamatea Manaia .. 121 6 11 0 16 3 10 0 6 8 4 6 11 11 0 8 6 122 11 8 10 0 344 16 2 163 18 10 V. Hobson Coromandel 102*16 10 150 4 5 235 11 0 7 2 6 Clarke, J. C. Walter, C. A. Walter, Mrs. Victor, J. .. Victor, Mrs. Lundon, Miss C. H. .. Lundon, Miss C. Hamilton, T. D. Hamilton, Mrs. Hamilton, Miss R. .. Young, Rev. H. Young, Miss E. Young, Mrs. Harris, A. R. Harris, Mrs. Barnett, Mrs. Ashley, Mrs. Hamilton, A. G. Hamilton, Mrs. Brown, Miss I. Leech, W. A. Leech, Mrs. V. III. 6 M HM AP HM AP HP AP HM AP AP HM AP S HM AP HF AP HM AP P HM AP 93 7 3 117 19 10 24 4 0 159 18 9 50 0 0 131 9 6 16 16 6 177 9 8 30 0 0 10 18 9 128 14 5 School not yet opened. School reopened in March quarter. Raglan.. Rakaumanga 220 17 3 9 5 8 766 14 4 996 17 3 iii* Kawhia.. Raorao .. 150 5 3 3 5 6 566 17 8 720 8 5 V. Kawhia .. 212 0 3 2 18 6 27 0 0 241 18 9 iii.* Te Kopua 154 2 7 2 7 9 3 0 0 159 10 4 iii. 6 School removed from Karikari. With allowance for conveyance of goods, 3 £10 P er annum. School not yet opened. With house allowance, £26 per annum. With house allowance, £26 per annum. Te Kuiti .. 162 9 10 9 5 0 5 18 7 177 13 5 I 14 1 3 Piako v. 128 1 5 18 16 6 119 2 6 23 13 3 207 5 0 48 3 6 104 6 7 119 2 11 12 8 3 Te Waotu 141 9 6 7 3 10 148 13 4 i.' 6 West Taupo Tokaanu .. 277 16 1 22 0 4 7 8 6 307 4 11 i." 1 Tauranga Papamoa Te KotukutuKu 122 2 0 146 16 5 10 17 7 14 6 3 218 4 8 2 17 11 351 4 3 164 0 7 v. ii.' \ Motiti Huria Paeroa Te Matai.. 132 11 4 139 6 9 191 0 10 1 14 3 5 15 6 8 19 7 0 0 7 0 0 134 5 7 145 2 3 199 2 7 Stewart, Mrs. Louch, Miss I. Capper, J. P. Capper, Miss O. Capper, Mrs. Brown, Rev. C. C. Brown, Mrs. v. V. III. P P HM A F S HM AF 100 0 0 110 9 0 151 8 7 20 8 0 12 10 0 162 2 11 27 14 3 Rotorua Ranana 193 11 0 1 16 6 195 7 6 V. School not yet opened. Whakatane Tapuaeharuru Matata Te Teko .. 10116 3 123 5 8 518 6 7 0 2 7 0 0 6 0 0 7 0 0 113 14 9 130 5 10 Walmsley, Mrs. Morton, B. D. Morton, Miss J. Wykes, P. R. Wylie, J. .. Wylie, Miss M. V. IV. P HM AF M H M AF 102 10 5 103 5 3 13 1 0 102 7 10 101 11 2 7 4 3 Waiotapu Awangararanui 33 18 8 102 12 2 14 14 5 24 10 6 688 18 8 31 1 0 737 11 9 158 3 8 V. V. School opened in Septemberjjuarter. With allowance for conveyance of goods, £20 per annum. School-buildings removed from site at Galatea.

8.—2

22

Table No. 1— continued. Expenditure, &c., on Native Schools for Year 1899— continued.

County. Schools. Salaries. Other Ordinary Expenditure. Expenditure during 1899. Buildings, Sites, Fencing, and Furniture. Teachers of Village Schools at the End of the Year. 50 Si d 0 o PH B.HW Remarks Total. hakatane — contd. Te Whaiti £ s. d. 90 17 2 £ s. d. 27 10 0 £ s. d. • £ s. d. 118 7 2 Wilding, C. B. V. £ s. d. 100 0 0 Te Houhi 161 16 11 22 3 0 10 6 184 16 8 Wylie, T. .. Wylie, Miss M. A. V. M HM A P 115 0 3 13 2 0 With allowance for conveyance of goods, £20 per annum. With house allowance, £26 per annum and allowance for conveyance of goods £20 per annum. Otamauru 147 17 11 16 3 0 164 0 11 Crene, P., jun. Crene, Mrs. Herlihy, P. .. Herlihy, Mrs. Lee, J. B. .. Lee, Mrs. Brown, CH. Brown, Mrs. V. HM AP H M AF HM A F HM AF 110 12 6 16 6 9 162 5 6 48 16 9 152 10 6 27 10 4 209 7 5 50 0 0 Poroporo .. 209 19 10 4 2 0 2 15 0 216 16 10 i.'-i Ruatoki .. 192 17 6 17 2 0 33 0 0 242 19 6 v. Waimana 162 7 7 27 18 9 839 12 8 1,029 19 0 V. School opened in June quarter. Ohiwa Waioweka 134' 9 11 15' 0 6 149 10 5 Levert, Miss M. Levert, Miss L. Levert, Mrs. Broderick, H. W. Broderick, Mrs. Moore, J. Moore, Mrs. Bow, A. Bow, Miss A. Hailey, Rev. D. T. Hailey, Mrs. Mulhern, J. Mulhern, Miss K. Mulhern, Mrs. Cummins, H. C. Beattie, Mrs. Beattie, Miss J. C. Hamilton, H. A. Porter, Miss A. Hamilton, Mrs. Bone, D. .. Bone, Miss M. Bone, Mrs. (Vacant) V. HF AF S HM AF HM A F HM AP H M AP H M AP S M HF AF H M AF S H M AF S 116 5 7 6 16 8 8 10 0 199 14 2 44 8 9 137 5 6 18 15 0 178 1 2 50 0 0 121 14 6 33 13 3 122 0 4 7 2 9 7 2 9 100 0 0 156 6 4 31 5 0 275 0 2 50 0 0 18 15 0 177 12 8 41 6 9 12 10 0 School not yet opened. Omarumutu 249 3 2 6 15 0 255 18 2 iii. Torere 153 18 9 4 11 7 20 0 0 178 10 4 iii. 6 Omaio 245 15 0 2 16 6 248 11 6 i.' 6 Te Kaha .. 160 10 3 2 13 5 163 3 8 v. Raukokore *49 18 6 6 8 6 156 7 0 iii. 6 aiapu.. Wharekahika Te Araroa 110 3 5 189 15 0 14 5 2 2 7 7 124 8 7 192 2 7 v. v. Rangitukia 348 6 0 14 6 0 862 12 0 li'.* School not open during December quarter owing to removal of school-buildings to another site. Tikitiki.. 247 6 7 24 0 11 271 7 6 lii.s Waiomatatini 186 19 11 4 10 0 131 18 0 323 7 11 Tuparoa .. 198 19 7 8 17 2 0 10 0 208 6 9 Blathwayt, G. C. J. Blathwayt, Miss E. C. v. HM AF 153 15 11 46 4 0

23

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Hiruharama 190 17 0 18 10 6 1 21 10 0 230 17 6 Downey, M. Downey, Mrs. McGavin, Mr. and Mrs. V. H M AF 160 16 2 37 11 9 236 17 3 Tokomaru 232 5 4 1 17 0 234 2 4 II. 6 (Mrs.) III. The teachers work conjointly. Wairoa .. Nuhaka 199 17 8 18 6 0 145 2 8 363 6 4 Pinker, A. .. Pinker, Mrs. Pinker, Miss R. E. Gibson, A. .. HM AP AP M 156 15 6 50 0 0 9 2 3 109 13 3 Kokako Hawke's Bay .. Te Haroto Hawera .. Mawhitiwhiti Wanganui .. Pamoana 150 6 8 77* 1 9 326 18 4 11 14 6 34 0 7 12 7 8 6 0 4 7 3 5'l6 11 170 7 2 4 7 3 80 5 9 340 7 10 Phillips, G.'w. S. .. Grace, C. W. Grace, Mrs. Onyon, Miss P. Wilson, A. .. Wilson, Mrs. Grant, Miss A. L. Grant, Miss M. I." .. Clemance, P. H. V. i.' 6 in. M HM AP AF H M AP HP AP M 100 0 0 275 0 6 50 0 0 24 7 9 154 10 3 29 18 9 115 6 6 17 11 6 102 7 11 51 19 4 With allowance for conveyance of goods, £5 per annum. School not yet opened. School closed at end of year. Name of school changed from Koriniti. Pipiriki 199 13 6 6 12 0 206 5 6 v. Karioi 119 18 6 6 9 9 69 19 8 196 7 11 v> Subsidised school; £23 15s. was paid from Native reserve funds. Wairarapa South.. Papawai .. Sounds .. .. Whangarae (Croiselles) 112 17 9 54 11 5 4 9 6 25 5 0 53' 5 7 117 17 3 133 2 0 a. Marlborough .. Waikawa Wairau Kaikoura .. Mangamaunu 100 0 0 100 0 0 106 16 10 18 6 6 12 1 6 6 19 118 6 6 112 1 6 112 18 7 Greensill, Mrs. S. Gibbs, Miss E. Comerford, W. H. Gibson, Miss C. Cossgrove, D. Cossgrove, Mrs. Cossgrove, Miss S. Hastings, E. A. Hastings, Miss G. Moloney, M. Moloney, Miss A. Moloney, Mrs. Heatley, F. Heatley, Mrs. Blathwayt, H. Blathwayt, Miss V. III. 6 IV. 6 P F H M A F HM AP AF HM AF HM AP S HM AF HM AP 100 0 0 100 0 0 110 16 10 18 15 6 102 0 11 20 0 0 12 17 4 113 6 3 16 11 0 130 1 3 5 3 0 14 15 0 118 6 5 16 1 0 122 4 7 22 2 9 £55 was paid from Native reserve funds. Ashley .. .. Kaiapoi .. 121 7 1 54 18 6 176 5 7 iii. 4 Akaroa .. .. Rapaki 128 19 2 24 5 8 153 4 10 v. Little River Levels .. .. Arowhenua 164 6 6 16 10 8 23 9 0 204 6 2 iii. With house allowance, £26 per annum. 170 2 0 12 0 171 4 0 v'» Waikouaiti .. Waikouaiti 133 15 8 21 18 7 155 14 3 V. Stewart Island .. Ruapuke The Neck 113 5 9 76' 1 0 2 15 6 2 15 6 183 6 9 Thompson, J. H. Thompson, Mrs. Hill, C. P. .. Coekroft, Mrs. V. iii. v. HM AP 102 2 1 11 18 6 School not yet opened. £32 0s. 8d. was paid from Native reserve funds. On leave of absence. On leave of absenoe. Boarding-schools — St. Stephen's, Auckland Te Aute, Hawke's Bay Hukarere, Hawke's Bay St. Joseph's, Hawke's Bay Inspection Other miscellaneous expenditure not chargeable to particular schools 491 19 3 200 0 0 430 0 0 352 11 0 513 2 7 491 19 3 200 0 0 430 0 0 352 11 0 963 2 7 450 0 0 131 12 6 719 1 10 850 14 4 Totals .. 13,773 19 4 3,821 7 4 12,779 13 8 5,487 13 6 23,083 0 2* * Including £110 15s. 8d. paid from Native reserve fui 1 Als nds, and £5310s. ] io M.A. and B2; 2 raid from Civil List, Native purposes. Deducting recoveries, £5119s. also B. A.; 3 also C4; * also Dl; 5 also El; 6 also E2; 7 also E3; 8 also id., the result is a net e: !4.| :penditure of £23,031 0s 6d

8.—2

24

Table No. 2. Classified Summaby of Net Expenditure on Native Schools during 1899. £ s. a. Teachers'salaries .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 13,136 11 4 Teachers' allowances for special objects .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 271 16 8 Teachers' removal allowances .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 178 10 5 Books and school requisites .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 499 7 7 Planting sites .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 20 0 0 Repairs and small works .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 535 5 9 Inspector's salary .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 450 0 0 Inspector's travelling-expenses.. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 362 2 7 Visits of Public-school Inspectors—Subsidy to Auckland Education Board .. .. .. 150 0 0 Sundries .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 160 6 4 Boarding-school fees and apprenticeship charges .. .. .. .. .. .. 1,517 5 3 Travelling-expenses of scholars sent to boarding-schools .. .. .. .. .. .. 57 9 7 University scholarships .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 192 1 6 Nursing Hospital scholarships .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 42 10 0 Buildings, fencing, furniture, &c. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 5,457 13 6 Total .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. £23,031 0 6 Note.—Of the above total, £110 15s. Bd. was paid from Native reserves funds, and £53 10s. from Civil List, Native Purposes.

Table No. 3. Ages of the Children on the Books of the Native Village Schools at 31st December, 1899.

Age. Boys. Girls. Total. Percentage. Jnder five years 36 47 83 2-71 'ive and under ten years .. 822 698 1,520 49-59 'en and under fifteen years 773 544 1,317 42-97 'ifteen years and upwards 94 51 145 4-73 Totals 1,725 1,340 3,065 100-00

E.—2,

Table No. 4. List of the Native Village Schools, with the Attendance of the Pupils for the Year 1899. [In this list the schools are arranged according to regularity of attendance. See last column.]

25

Schools. a ° actio fl fl .2.3 3 dr* rp <D iJ jM 10 tO h oo o fl •°'C School-i <+i CD is rH to <D P P'P ■oil. 60 lis tied a « OrH Q<r, a o u-c to a 3 ? 3 o Q toe ?& H Fourth Quarter. u Whole Year. Boys. Girls. Total. Average Attendance. CD t*) § ° CD SSrf til rClSr? g.So H Waiotapu x Matihetihe Omaio Whangarae (Croiselles) 2 Torere Poroporo Te Kaha Omarumutu Pamoana s Whakarara Rangitukia Arowhenua Kenana Taiharuru Karetu Te Pupuke Tikitiki Waiomatatini 4 Te Kopua Mangamuka Whangaruru Utakura Waimana 5 Banana Te Araroa Whangahape 6 Pukepoto Taumarere Wharekahika Parapara Otamauru Little River Pamapuria Waima Waimamaku Peria 6 Waikouaiti Nuhaka Tokomaru Te Ahuahu Te Houhi Karioi Tuparoa Raorao Ahipara Te Matai Te Kao Rapaki Manaia Mangamaunu Whirinaki Waikawa Otamatea 6 Poroti Tokaanu Raukokore Papawai The Neck Hiruharama Kawhia Ohaeawai Waioweka Rakaumanga Hapua Te Waotu Kaikohe Kaiapoi Omanaia Te Kuiti Te Kotukutuku Ruatoki Matata Te Teko Pipiriki Motukaraka Mawhitiwhiti 7 Awangararanui 8 Wairau Paeroa Papamoa 9 Whakarapa Otaua Te Whaiti Kokako Huria 17 59 15 30 48 40 50 69 40 84 23 10 23 18 31 61 37 29 40 21 30 35 8 2 5 8 8 6 10 18 13 25 8 3 2 7 13 15 14 7 6 7 9 66 16 7 62 7 10 6 12 7 17 18 29 7 64 19 38 27 11 12 14 23 2 13 13 12 6 3 21 9 7 33 8 21 4 10 5 22 40 11 10 36 6 15 13 40 15 23 6 10 30 6 58 10 1 5 6 4 3 5 7 10 9 3 21 5 1 14 7 10 18 51 7 4 3 7 4 14 34 20 55 16 35 51 39 50 78 50 88 26 12 11 18 34 58 31-50 17-25 58-75 15-50 34-75 50-75 41-50 50-75 77-00 47-75 84-00 25-00 12-50 16-50 20-25 38-75 64-00 42-33 29-75 41-50 25-25 33-25 59-33 4000 43-25 50-25 23-25 22-50 15-25 33-00 31-50 34-00 35-25 33-50 20-75 57-00 31-00 78-50 61-50 22-75« 33-50 30-50 62-00 34-00 43-25 50-00 49-50 27-25 39-25 28-00 54-75 24-75 26-50 33-50 75-75 31-00 24-00 26-00 62-50 57-25 31-00 31-75 78-50 47-25 40-50 42-00 41-50 24-50 48-50 42-00 59-50 30-75 34-25 66-50 32-25 12-66 29-75 17-75 36-25 34-75 35-00 24-50 19-25 48-75 24-75 23 7 26 6 18 31 21 26 41 29 46 10 4 4 8 17 24 9 9 26 8 15 18 14 19 29 15 32 13 7 5 8 11 28 32 16 52 14 33 49 35 45 70 '44 78 23 11 9 16 28 52 30-00 16-25 55-00 14-50 32-50 47-00 38-25 46-75 70-25 42-75 74-25 22-00 11-00 14-50 17-75 33-75 55-50 36-66 25-75 35-75 21-75 28-25 50-33 33-75 36-25 42-00 19-25 18-50 12-50 27-00 25-75 27-50 28-50 26-75 16-50 45-25 24-50 62-00 48-25 17-50 25-75 23-25 47-00 25-75 32-75 37-75 37-25 20-50 29-50 20-50 39-75 17-75 19-00 24-00 54-25 25-50 17-00 18-25 43-75 40-00 20 00 21-50 52-00 31-25 26-75 27-50 27-00 15-25 2900 25-00 35 00 18-00 19-75 37-50 18-00 7-00 16-25 9-50 18-75 17-25 17-00 11-25 8-25 20-75 9-75 95-24 94-20 93-62 93-55 93-52 92-61 92-17 92-12 91-23 89-52 88-39 88-00 88-00 87-87 87-65 87-09 86-72 86-61 86-55 86-14 86-13 84-96 84-83 84 37 83-81 83-58 82-79 82-22 81-96 81-81 81-74 80-88 80-85 79-81 79-51 79-38 79-03 78-98 78-46 76-92 76-86 76-23 75-80 75-73 75-72 75-50 75-25 75-22 75-15 73-21 72-60 71-71 71-69 71-64 • 71-61 71-22 70-83 7019 70-00 69 86 67-74 67-71 66-24 66-13 66-05 65-47 6506 62-24 59-79 59-52 58-82 58-53 57-66 56-39 55-81 55-29 54-62 53-52 51-72 49-64 48-57 45-91 42-85 42-56 39-39 36 37 22 19 20 27 33 34 29 17 17 24 50 44 18 30 26 46 33 40 45 44 25 40 18 52 22 10 5 8 12 4 13 22 8 9 4 2 11 15 12 11 13 10 11 3 11 13 8 5 4 7 14 5 11 12 22 9 8 4 11 22 13 2 19 11 10 10 14 3 33 7 22 23 7 50 11 16 14 13 22 7 19 10 24 26 21 29 42 25 32 62 38 44 52 24 21 14 35 27 29 39 37 20 62 32 73 59 18 29 30 58 32 42 45 48 26 39 32 47 24 22 28 67 26 21 27 54 62 28 31 80 41 40 41 53 28 39 39 47 25 32 54 27 14 22 14 14 35 19 18 20 8 8 6 14 12 13 17 19 9 26 16 35 29' 8 8 11 28 11 19 19 22 15 15 11 22 7 7 11 22 10 10 9 19 24 14 9 25 17 13 17 17 7 19 11 17 8 10 13 5 7 15 8 14 13 13 17 22 13 8 5 13 11 13 11 10 8 20 12 21 20 8 12 13 18 11 13 17 16 6 12 13 20 9 7 10 25 11 4 9 19 12 5 11 27 13 14 10 18 9 5 6 12 10 8 15 7 21 37 22 "28 48 32 35 42 21 16 11 27 23 26 '28 29 17 46 28 56 49 16 20 24 46 22 32 36 38 21 27 24 42 16 14 21 47 21 14 18 38 36 19 20 52 30 27 27 35 16 24 17 29 18 18 28 12 32 68 31 19 26 43 44 30 23 63 46 35 38 27 16 49 40 59 18 33 46 28 16 24 17 33 27 32 19 17 45 21 16 11 28 16 9 12 17 9 15 26 15 39 36 22 21 10 28 15 7 5 14 15 10 4 5 5 5 7 2 6 5 1 4 3 3 3 14 7 20 20 11 8 8 8 8 Totals for 1899 2,688 1,352 975 3,065 3,25500 2,298' 1,289 1,009 12,434-75 74-80 Totals for 1898 2,556 1,439 1,023 2,972 3,056-00 1,265 1,018 |2,283 12,341-00! 76-60 1 Opened in September quarter. 2 £ December quarter. 5 Opened in June 8 Formerly held at Galatea. 9 Formerly 1 4—E. 2. iubsidisr quartei leld at I 3d schoo Larikari. >1. 6 Rei 8 Formerly known as E rpened in March quartei r. 7 01 4 Not opei losed at ei led during id of year.

Summary of Table No. 5.

Race. Boys. Girls. Total. Percentage. Maori, and between Maori and half-caste Half-caste European, and between half-caste and European 1,415 152 158 1,036 150 154 2,451 302 312 79-97 9-85 10-18 Totals 1,725 1,340 • 3,065 10000

8.—2.

Table No. 5. Race of the Children attending the Native Village Schools on 31st December, 1899. M, Maori; M Q, between Maori and half-caste; H, half-caste; E Q, between half-caste and European; E, European.

26

M and M Q. H. E Q and E. , Totals. Schools. Boys. Girls. Total. Boys. Girls. Total. Boys. Girls. Total. Boys. Girls. Total. Hapua Te Kao Pamapuria Ahipara Pukepoto Kenana Parapara Peria Te Pupuke Whakarara Whangape Utakura Whakarapa Matihetihe Whirinaki Waima Omanaia Motukaraka Mangamuka Waimamaku Otaua Ohaeawai Kaikohe Karetu Whangaruru Taumarere Te Ahuahu Poroti Taiharuru Otamatea Manaia Rakaumanga Raorao Kawhia Te Kopua.. Te Kuiti Te Waotu Tokaanu Papamoa Te Kotukutuku Huria 23 27 20 25 9 4 19 19 17 26 25 16 19 6 21 23 12 9 24 9 13 11 24 5 14 9 7 11 6 9 21 12 13 30 18 16 12 31 21 19 7 22 22 21 7 14 23 to 5 12 15 30 26 37 12 25 16 28 22 10 7 21 47 24 12 19 18 15 12 8 16 12 11 12 23 15 2 9 23 12 7 4 18 6 4 4 17 2 8 12 7 7 5 10 16 14 17 15 8 3 9 30 13 14 7 7 21 10 9 16 10 7 4 14 12 17 16 18 10 18 10 25 12 10 7 20 27 27 35 46 38 40 21 12 35 31 28 38 48 31 21 15 44 35 19 13 42 15 17 15 41 7 22 21 14 18 11 19 37 26 30 45 26 19 21 61 34 33 14 29 43 31 16 30 33 17 9 26 27 47 42 55 22 43 26 53 34 20 14 41 74 51 1 1 2 1 3 2 4 2 1 2 3 25 27 21 26 9 4 19 34 20 33 26 16 20 9 24 24 13 15 24 10 16 19 24 9 16 9 9 14 6 11 23 37 14 41 20 29 18 32 23 23 7 27 23 23 12 16 24 15 6 12 15 33 29 44 16 29 19 28 24 12 7 22 53 28 16 21 18 16 15 8 16 28 14 17 26 16 2 11 23 13 15 12 18 10 5 9 17 9 9 12 9 14 5 11 16 43 18 21 9 10 22 35 13 16 8 12 22 15 13 16 10 11 4 17 12 18 18 18 15 21 16 27 15 14 7 22 35 30 41 48 39 42 24 12 35 62 34 50 52 32 22 20 47 37 28 27 42 20 21 28 41 18 25 21 18 28 11 22 39 80 32 62; 29 3940 67 36 39 15 39 45 38 25 32 34 26 10 29 27 51 47 62: 31 5035 55 39 26 14 44 88 58 "l 1 "l 3 2 1 3 2 1 1 4 2 4 13 2 4 1 14 2 - 4 3 1 27 4 8 4 1 1 "3 "2 "5 "l 3 1 1 2 1 8 2 3 2 9 4 4 "6 io "l 2 "l 1 1 3 1 2 6 3 1 4 4 3 10 "l "3 "5 "8 "l 2 "2 1 "3 3 "l "3 "4 "2 2 "2 4 "4 6 2 2 23 1 7 1 "l 27 1 3 1 3 2 50 2 10 2 "2 "2 "4 4 1 13 5 1 "3 7 9 3 7 1 20 14 4 "l 4 2 5 2 2 6 1 10 1 7 1 2 1 7 "2 4 2 1 5 1 5 Paeroa Te Matai Ranana Matata Te Teko Waiotapu Awangararanui Te Whaiti Te Houhi.. Otamauru Poroporo Ruatoki Waimana.. Waioweka Omarumutu Torere Omaio Te Kaha Raukokore Wharekahika Te Araroa Rangitukia Tikitiki Waiomatatini Tuparoa Hiruharama Tokomaru Nuhaka Kokako Mawhitiwhiti Pamoana Pipiriki Karioi "5 "l "l 2 1 2 1 4 "4 "4 "8 "3 "l 1 "l "2 1 "3 3 "2 1 "l "3 1 1 2 7 2 2 1 "2 1 4 7 5 4 6 1 1 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 4 3 3 1 3 2 5 1 3 1 "3 "2 "2 "5 1 3 4 2 4 1 3 7 5 "3 "4 2 "7 2 21 25 32 42 11 19 22 20 27 9 40 47 52 69 20 13 5 1 3 1 3 18 1 6 2 8 "3 6 1 2 34 28 36 45 16 24 26 23 28 12 58 54 59' 73 28 3 1 5 3 1 2 Papawai Croiselles Waikawa Wairau Mangamaunu Kaiapoi Rapaki Little River Arowhenua Waikouaiti The Neck.. 40 27 10 5 7 2 9 9 16 13 11 8 7 2 30 23 10 3 7 5 5 7 7 5 12 15 3 4 70 50 20 8 14 7 14 16 23 18 23 23 10 6 4 1 2 "7 2 1 5 "l 9 "2 9 6 2 7 "l 16 2 16 2 2 2 2 1 3 9 1 1 5 6 3 4 1 12 4 "l "4 1 9 8 3 2 2 3 13 1 1 1 14 14 6 4 1 22 6 46 29 15 14 7 10 10 14 29 18 16 10 19 13 32 25 15 7 9 14 5 18 24 8 13 16 13 14 78 54 30 21 16 24 15 32 53 26 29 26 32 27 7 2 1 1 "l 1 "7 "8 15 'io 2 Totals for 1899 1,415 1,036 1,017 2,451 152 150 302 158 154 312 1,725 1,340 3,065 Totals for 1898 2,397 151 144 295 136 144 280 1,667 1,305 2,972 1,380

E.—2.

Table No. 6. Results of Examination, 1899.

27

Schools. a o^ o"o 9S 0J3 VI. isses of Pup: ils examine Marks obtained by Children that passed a Standard. V. IV. III. II. I. Hapua Te Kao Pamapuria Ahipara Pukepoto Kenana Parapara Peria* Te Pupuke Whakarara Whangape* Utakura Whakarapa Matihetihe Whirinaki Waima Omanaia Motukaraka Mangamuka Waimamaku Otaua Ohaeawai Kaikohe Karetu Whangaruru Taumarere Te Ahuahu Poroti Taiharuru Otamatea* Manaia Rakaumanga Raorao Kawhia Te Kopua Te Kuiti Te Waotu Tokaanu Papamoa Te Kotukutuku .. Huria 47 49 34 45 24 12 30 57 41 49 50 32 31 21 52 33 27 31 40 21 24 32 38 19 25 24 25 33 24 30 38 87 34 51 32 39 43 79 33 41 26 32 49 41 30 33 '2 '2 i '2 3 3 5 1 2 3 i 5 2 2 1 1 i i 1 11 9 1 2 2 1 5 2 2 2 5 3 1 4 8 1 4 1 3 4 1 4 4 2 2 7 13 10 10 6 4 5 5 7 I 1 i 2 9 5 1 1 7 5 1 5 2 1 1 7 2 , 5 5 2 1 3 5 2 5 4 14 5 8 12 5 2 3 5 "o 7 1 2 3 6 5 2 1 8 2 2 5 8 3 2 2 2 1 135-5 197-0 119-0 89-0 800 45-0 89-5 105-5 340 56-5 28-0 34-0 138-0 84-5 51-0 46-5 143-5 38-5 45-0 43-5 54-5 87-0 24-0 79-5 43-0 52-5 52-5 i '2 V "2 i 14 11 5 7 7 12 4 13 87-5 65-5 44-0 98-0 109-0 88-5 59-0 234-0 4 4 '3 6 i 2 3 "2 9 "i io 3 72-5 12-0 43-5 99-5 143-5 28-5 50 Paeroa Te Matai Ranana Matata Te Teko Waiotapuf Awangararanui .. Te Whaiti Te Houhi Otamauru Poroporo Ruatoki Waimanaf Waioweka Omarumutu Torere Omaio Te Kaha Raukokore Wharekahika Te Araroa Rangitukia Tikitiki Waiomatatini .. Tuparoa Hiruharama Tokomaru Nuhaka Kokako Mawhitiwhiti Pamoana Pipiriki Karioi Papawai Wbangarae (Croiselles) Waikawa Wairau Mangamaunu .. Kaiapoi Rapaki Little River Arowhenua Waikouaiti The Neck "2 2 5 6 4 7 1 1 1 5 15 2 "2 1 i 1 36 22 37 33 48 57 3 3 3 4 2 3 2 41-0 34-5 38-0 31-5 153-5 60-5 "2 i 4 9 1 2 7 1 6 6 6 4 30 52 35 60 45 34 16 43 85 64 41 59 63 57 79 54 17 73 61 32 20 15 29 14 34 43 24 , 30 23 35 26 "2 1 "i 1 i 5 1 1 2 3 7 1 4 7 2 2 2 13 5 1 1 3 6 1 5 3 3 2 1 6 13 12 11 3 4 14 1 9 7 5 3 1 1 8 19 7 3 9 5 5 2 4 1 2 7 2 5 6 1 1 1 8 3 1 10 6 8 4 10 40-5 1710 78-0 85-0 108-0 63-0 32-5 109-0 344-5 158-0 99-0 132-5 120-0 203-5 34-0 80-5 21-5 310-5 950 60-0 45-0 690 53-0 260 88-5 64-5 70-5 56-5 73-0 77-5 39-0 '2 i "2 1 2 i 1 1 1 2 1 1 1 1 2 1 4 2 3 2 3 4 5 1 2 10 3 54 10 9 3 "l 3 6 2 1 2 3 2 1 1 3 3 4 4 1 2 2 4 3 5 3 3 5 4 i 3 Totals for 1899 17 40 143 242 340 403 3,214 Totals for 1898 13,038 10 31 148 226 334 518 * Schools recently reopened, and not qualified for examination. + Not inspected or examined.

E.—2.

Table No. 7. Results of Inspection, 1899. [In this table the schools are arranged according to the gross percentage obtained. See last column.]

28

Schools. aao »PFH S— 0 O QM co 0+= Mo a §l § - "43 0-4S ro it- a>—1 tC CO 0JJ a * 04J a o ■§r§« „o rn w a rt ca »r O _irH os rg ■£■0% .O ??fl S3 " £ cs.S atj .3 a 10 0 aw h CD <D So " °V>. ■ " H fcH-^ o»a ■T0 0 4= Hh-7J . ri <S C$ CTj © *m IIP r« gr-9 „ Sill ao 00 fl '$ d 3 n 00 _a 'Si a . , DOS la hira «g Half of Percentage obtained at Examination. Gross Percentage. Rangitukia Omarumutu Ranana Croiselles Pamoana Te Kao Tokaanu Karetu Tokomaru Poroporo Taumarere Omanaia Whirinaki Waioweka Waima Waiomatatini Arowhenua Te Araroa Mangamuka Te Kopua Te Matai Tikitiki Te Kaha Pukepoto Paeroa Pipiriki Waikouaiti Torere The Neck Wharekahika Tuparoa Kawhia Pamapuria Mangamaunu Taiharuru Rapaki Omaio Te Kuiti Waimamaku Utakura Te Pupuke Kenana* Motukaraka Ruatoki Papawai Karioi Hiruharama Te Waotu Parapara Raukokore Ohaeawai Te Whaiti Kokako Otaua Manaia Poroti Te Ahuahu Hapua Wairau Mawhitiwhiti Little River Ahipara Whangaruru Kaikohe Waikawa Otamauru Raorao Whakarara Whakarapa Kaiapoi Awangararanui Te Kotukutuku Te Houhi Te Teko Matata Nuhaka Matihetihe Rakaumanga Huria Papamoa Periaf .. Otamateat Whangapet WaiotapuJ Waimana} 10-0 8-9 9-9 8-1 100 9-1 10-0 6-7 10-0 10-0 7-4 8-2 9-7 10-0 9-5 10-0 7-9 10-0 9-4 9-0 9-8 8-5 8-9 9-2 8-2 8-8 6-9 8-7 9-2 8-6 8-8 7-6 7-6 6-7 8-3 7-1 9-5 8-0 7-8 90 8-5 7-4 9-3 9-6 9-5 5-9 9-4 7-5 6-8 8-3 8-2 9-9 9-4 8-4 6-5 5-7 8-4 6-0 7-8 8-8 6-3 9-0 8-9 9-8 6-2 7-2 8-2 8-7 9-8 7-6 7-7 7-8 7-0 9-4 8-1 9-8 6-8 7-5 8-6 7-1 9-3 7-5 6-5 9-0 7-8 9-5 100 8-5 8-8 9-5 8-6 8-3 8-4 7-9 8-6 9-4 9-8 90 7-4 9-1 90 6-9 7-9 10-0 7-3 8-8 9-3 7-5 8-8 9-3 8-5 7-5 7-3 7-8 7-9 6-8 8-2 7-9 7-4 8-5 8-8 7-8 8-8 8-0 7-0 8-0 8-5 8-6 8-5 7-0 8-3 7-5 7-5 8-3 8-9 8-4 8-8 7-8 7-5 7-3 7-0 9-0 8-0 7-8 7-0 6-4 8-3 7-8 7-3 7-0 8-8 9-1 8-3 7-8 6-8 8-0 8-0 7-5 8-0 7-3 7-0 8-5 7-0 8-3 60 6-8 9-3 8-5 8-6 9-0 9-5 8-0 9-5 9-3 8-5 9-0 9-1 9-5 9-0 8-8 8-0 9-0 7-1 7-9 9-4 7-6 8-8 9-3 8-1 8-5 7-4 7-9 9-3 7-5 6-9 8-1 8-5 7-9 8-0 8-5 9-0 7-8 8-0 7-0 6-5 8-3 7-5 8-0 7-3 8-3 7-9 8-0 7-1 6-9 7-8 7-3 7-6 6-8 7-5 7-8 6-3 6-8 6-6 70 7-7 8-0 7-3 7-3 7-4 60 7-8 7-7 7-8 9-5 7-5 7-1 7-4 6-8 6-9 5-0 7-8 7-5 7-8 5-1 6-8 6-4 7-3 5-8 5-3 100 10-0 8-0 6-3 90 6-9 8-5 8-5 8-5 8-2 8-0 7-5 8-5 5-5 8-0 8-5 7-0 8-5 9-0 8-0 9-0 8-5 ' 8-5 8-0 6-0 8-0 7-5 8-5 5-0 7-0 8-5 8-0 6-7 8-2 8-0 7-0 7-0 7-0 7-0 7-0 5-8 8-8 7-3 7-3 8-0 7-3 8-0 8-7 8-0 9-0 9-5 7-0 7-5 70 6-2 5-3 8-2 7-3 8-5 3-3 5-7 6-0 8-2 6-2 6-3 8-5 6-0 7-7 6-3 4-5 7-0 6-3 8-7 7-3 6-7 7-2 6-3 6-2 6-2 6-3 5-0 7-3 46-2 44-1 42-9 44-6 41-1 44-4 38-0 42-6 38-2 35-8 40-6 38-5 35-8 38-6 38-9 35-5 39-8 34-3 40-0 39-0 32-4 34-0 35-2 34-2 360 33-3 31-3 31-6 37-9 32-6 30-0 28-7 32-2 30-0 27-6 32-3 276 29-7 31-0 28-3 28-4 42-9 25-2 23-9 25-9 30-2 27-1 28-8 26-9 28-8 26-7 21-7 23-0 25-2 29-6 29-3 26-2 28-6 21-9 22-7 28-9 25-0 27-2 28-6 25-2 23-9 24-5 16-6 18-4 210 18-8 26-7 20-8 22-2 19-0 14-7 18-5 12-9 9-3 10-8 93-3 86-6 86-2 86-0 85-4 85-2 84-2 83-7 82-5 80-9 80-0 79-8 79-4 78-9 78-7 78-6 78-2 78-2 78-0 77-2 760 75-8 75-7 75-5 73-6 72-8 72-0 71-1 71-0 70-6 69-9 68-8 68-6 68-3 68-0 67 9 66-8 66-7 66-4 66-4 65-5 65-3 65-3 65-3 65-2 64-6 64-4 64-2 64-0 63-7 62-3 62-3 62-0 61-9 61-4 61-1 61-1 60-9 60-7 60-5 60-1 60-1 59-7 59-5 59-2 58-8 58-4 57-9 57-8 57-2 57-2 56-1 55-2 54-8 52-7 50-7 49-7 43-7 42-7 42-1 33-6 28-6 '22-6 7-5 9-5 7-5 6-0 6-0 8-0 7-3 6-0 6-5 8-0 7-0 6-0 6-0 5-5 6-5 7-0 6-0 8-0 5-5 4-8 4-0 60 4-5 6-0 6-0 7-0 8-0 6-5 8-0 6-0 6-0 5-0 5-0 60 3-3 5-5 6-5 5-0 5-0 7-0 3-3 8-0 5-5 5-8 60 7-8 4-7 7-7 5-8 5-0 ■ 7-0 6-7 5-7 5-2 6-3 6-1 5-3 8-3 5-0 4-3 7-0 5-8 5-8 7-7 6-7 4-9 7-3 5-0 6-7 7-5 2-0 6-5 5-2 5-3 4-7 60 5-7 3-0 5-8 3-7 2-3 0-7 * Through change of teachers inspection incomplete. J Not in; + School! ipected or recently reopened, and were not qualified for examination, sxamined.

29

E.—2

Table No. 8. Classification of Pupils on the School Rolls, December, 1899.

Table No. 9. Average Age of Pupils at Standard Examination of Schools in 1899.

Table No. 10. Number of Maori Pupils receiving Higher Education, &c., at the End of 1899.

5—E 2.

Standards. Boys. Girls. Totals. Preparatory classes Class for Standard I. II. ... III. ... IV. ... V. ... VI. ... Passed Standard VI. Totals ... 453 383 361 253 182 67 18 8 1,725 384 255 280 215 133 54 14 5 837 638 641 468 315 121 32 13 1,340 3,065

Standards. Number passed at Annual Examination. Average Age. I. ... II. ... III. ... IV. ... V. ... VI. . . 403 340 242 143 40 17 Yrs. Mos. 10 0 10 7 11 1 12 7 13 0 14 2

Government Pupils. School. Private Pupils. Scholarshipholders. Temporary. Boarding-schools — St. Stephen's (boys), Parnell, Auckland Te Aute (boys), Hawke's Bay Hukarere (girls), Napier... St. Joseph's (girls), Napier Otago University— Medical students (male) ... Canterbury College, Christchurch— Student (male) for third and final College examination 16 11 21 1 16 37* 57t 39J 13§ 2 1 Totals ... 52 16 146 * Including 1 boy who is more European than Maori. t who are more European than Maori. § Including 3 girls whi including 11 Europeans. J Including 7 girls are more European than Maori.

E.—2

30

Table No. 10 — continued. Number of Maori ex-Native-School Pupils holding Industrial Scholarships at the End of 1899.

Approximate Cost of Paper.— Preparation, not given; printing (1,675 copies), £24 13s.

By Authority: JoHis Maokay, Government Printer, Wellington.—l9oo. Price Is.]

Number. District. Trade to which Scholars are apprenticed. 1 1 1 1 1 J Bay of Islands ... Auckland Opotiki Saddler. Saddler. Coachbuilder. Carpenter. Parmer. Saddler. tt it ... Total.., 6 umber of Maori ex-Native-! Ioarding-school Pupils holding Hospital-nursing Scholarships at the End of 1899. Number. District Hospital. 1 (girl) ... Napier Hospital.