E.—No. 9

School-room. A matron has been recently appointed, and the portion of the buildings occupied by the females has been partitioned off from the rest; but in spite of every precaution offences will take place in mixed Native Schools. The pupils, on examination, appear to disadvantage, their intellectual attainments being decidedly below par, but the following causes may be assigned :— 1. The pupils, with the exception of six, have been under instruction only for a period of seven months. 2. The instruction appears to have been of an inferior character, and conveyed by inferior teachers. The present teacher is not equal to the position he fills. 3. The School-hours are too short, being only from nine to twelve each day. I have already shown how even those are intruded upon. I give the following as the general result of the examination, and would remark that in awarding my judgments I have been somewhat influenced by the facts above stated. Id the present case the judgment "good" would be only -'fair" under ordinary circumstances. Class I. Reading.—3 could read easy narratives in English well, 5 imperfectly, 1 failed. Spelling.—1 very good, 4 fair, 4 failed. Tables and easy Mental Arithmetic.—2 very good, 1 fair, 5 failed. Writing. —1 very good, 3 good, 5 fair. The copy-books were all creditably kept. Arithmetic. —1 very good in the advanced Rules, 2 fair in Compound Addition and Multiplication, 1 good in Simple Multiplication, 1 fair in ditto. Class II. Reading.—"Very little progress has been made by this class in reading English. They attempt Monosyllables simultaneously. Writing—Ts fair and promises welL Arithmetic.—In Simple Addition, 4 very good, 5 good, 3 failures. In Simple multiplication, 7 very good, 5 failures. Tables.—5 very good, 2 fair, 7 failures. Class III. Tables.—9 attempt English monosyllables and write on slates. I was favourably impressed with the mental capabilities of these pupils, which seem only to need development, as also with their willingness to learn : but under the present precarious system of instruction, and the dull almost stupifying method of teaching pursued, very little progress can be made. My impression is that the tuition to which they are at present subjected is more calculated to encourage a growing indifference to education than create a desire for intellectual attainments. General Division of Time. One hour is set apart night and morning for religious instruction. Nine to two. —In School. Two to six—Outdoor work. Food, Clothing, and Sleeping Accommodation. The pupils have three meals per day, the allowance at each is liberal, and the quality good. There is a large dining-hall and table, but I am inclined to think little use is made of either, and that they take their meals generally in true Maori fashion. Four suits of clothes are distributed in the vear, consisting of blue serge shirts, dungaree frocks and trowsers, and Scotch twill shirts. The dormitories are capacious, the supply of bedding sufficient. Except in a few cases, each pupil has his own bed. Cleanliness and Health of the Scholars. There is not. to my mind, sufficient attention paid to personal and domestic cleanliness. The general health of the scholars is good. One young man fast recovering from low fever still occupies the hospital. One young girl had been an invalid for some months past from cutaneous disease, but is now apparently recovered. The Manager informed me that the Natives have an idea that the locality is not healthy. Many deaths, if I mistake not, have occurred here already. School Buildings and Land. The School-buildings on this establishment would accommodate a much larger number of pupils. Those which were first built are rapidly falling into dilapidation. The Manager contemplates putting them into thorough repair before the winter sets in, and has already made a commencement. The more modern buildings require to be re-shingled. The Estate is large (425 acres), valuable, and apparently remunerative. It carries 340 sheep, 54 horned cattle, 27 of which were raised during the past year. There are 15 milch cows, which supply the School with milk ; the butter is sold to pay the expenses of the establishment. There are 11 acres under potatoes this year, and about 18 tons hay were saved.

13

NATIVE SCHOOLS.