TO NATIVE SCHOOLS.

11

A.—No. 6.

all the arrangements for the comfort of the pupils appeared good and methodical. The school hours are from 9 a.m. to 1215 and from l'3O to 530, the afternoon hours being devoted to industrial pursuits. I examined the children in the usual branches with the following result; — A. B. C. D. Eeading ... ... ... ... ... 0 2 2 6 Writing ... .., ... ... ... 0 3 3 4 Spelling ... ... ... ... ... 0 14 5 Arithmetic ... ... ... ... ... 0 0 0 10 One child knew some little of geography, and the rest were able to explain, some in English and some in Maori, terms such as ' continent,' 'river,' &c. Of history nothing was known. It will be seen by the above that none of these children have as yet made any great progress ; I do not think that this should be looked upon as the result of a faulty system of education, and for this reason in the place of using the ordinary terms "good" "indifferent" "bad" &c, I have employed letters to denote the different stages of advancement. It would be clearly unjust to impute blarme for the backwardness of the pupils, where^the eldest child has only been in the school two years and the five youngest have not been there six months. Arithmetic was the only branch in which I consider that the progress of the children was unsatisfactory, and I observe that Mr. Eolleston finds the same fault in his published report. On looking through the copy books I found several misspellings in the copies set by the teacher for the children. This certainly does not look well for the accuracy of the instruction given. I was shown some specimens of needlework which had been done by the children, which were most tasteful, and appeared to be well executed. The contribution paid by the General Government for each child in this institution is £10 per annum, the expenses being about £15. I understand from the lady in charge of this school that it is in contemplation to abandon it, in consequence of a heavy debt which has been incurred by the Eoman Catholic body, though whether the debt arose from the expenditure upon this school,.or from other sources I did not clearly understand. Should this school be given up, Sister Marie Joseph informs me that she will endeavour to establish a day school for both sexes in some district more thickly inhabited by Natives, probably near Whangarei. She 1 was anxious to learn whether if this plan was carried out, the Government would make some advance for the expenses of removal, and the erection of a suitable building for the new school. It does not appear to me that such an advance is strictly permissible by the Act, except so far as the personal expenses of the teacher are concerned, to meet which a grant might be made under clause nineteen. lam of opinion that unless there is some probability of a regular district school being established under the provisions of the Act of last session in the locality to which Sister Marie Joseph proposes to remove, the establishment of a school according to her plan would be beneficial to the Natives, and therefore that any assistance which the Government may bo disposed to give will be well bestowed. Eobt. 11. Etton, Inspector of Native Schools. Auckland, 25th May, 1868.

Enclosure 2 in No. 4. EisroiiT on the Theee Kings Institution (Wesleyan.) Visited 21st Man, 1868. This institution ia about to bo closed in consequence of a heavy debt, and the impossibility of raising sufficient funds to meet current expenses. A number of the children who were receiving Government aid were struck off shortly after Mr. Eolleston's visit in December, 1866, and Mr. Arthur informs me that this together, with a recent reduction of £5 a head in the Provincial capitation allowance, has had the effect of closing the institution. Mr. Arthur, who has charge of the school, stated that he was sending away the children as quickly as he could, and that he was himself about to leave in five weeks from the date of my visit. There are now at this school only four pupils receiving assistance from the General Government; the eldest has been at school six years, the youngest only three months. I examined these four with the following result: — A. B. C. D. Eeading ... ... ... ... ... 0121 "Writing ... ... ... ... ... 0 12 1 Spelling ... ... ... ... 0 112 Arithmetic ... ... ... ... ... 0 0 13 It is scarcely possible to judge of the efficiency of a school system from so small a number oi children, the change about to be made has moreover necessarily caused much irregularity, and but little work has been done of late. I apprehend however, that as the institution is in a moribund state —as far at least as the education of Natives is concerned —it becomes of small importance to the Government to learn precisely what have been its faults and shortcomings with respect to education since the last visit of an Inspector. I went over the premises, and have no fault whatever to find with the arrangements ; the beds were all sheeted and clean, each child having a separate bed ; the children were tidy, and had a change of linen provided for them once a week, they bathe not less than three times a week ; the kitchen, offices, dining-hall, school room, &c, were all clean and orderly. The institution has been under the sole charge of Mr. Arthur with respect to instruction, and a great deal of his time was also taken up with the general management. lam of opinion that Mr. Arthur has had more on his hands than it was possible for one person however zealous to do thoroughly, and that the unsatisfactory state of education, and the discomfort and want of method noticed by Mr. Eolleston—but which seemed to have been almost removed at the time of Mr. H. Taylor's visit —may have been attributable to this. Eobt. PI. Exxon, Auckland, May 25th, 1868. Inspector of Native Schools. 4