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Ohinemutu School: Teachers, Mr. and Mrs. Tait.—This school, which I reported to you in January last to have just been opened in a temporary building, I again visited on 4th June. There are 54 children on the roll, of whom 23 were present at the inspection. They are of course mere beginners, one or two only having had any previous schooling. I examined them in easy reading, spelling, the multiplication table, &c, and found that they had made considerable progress since my last visit. The discipline and order, as would be expected by those who know Mr. Tait's abilities as a teacher, were better than in any other school under my inspection. When the school was opened in the present temporary building (an old raupo church), the resident Natives promised to repair it. I regret, however, to say that they have not done so, and I fear that this neglect will greatly retard the progress of the school, as, not only is it necessary to close the school in bad weather, but it is probable that sitting in such a ruinous building during the winter months will injure the health of both teachers and pupils. Nothing has yet been done in the matter of erecting a permanent schoolhouse, the question of the site not being yet settled. Most of the School Committees were absent from Ohinemutu at the time of my visit, but I saw Temuka Te Amohau, and urged on him the necessity of more energy in school matters. I learned from Mr. Hamlin, Resident Magistrate, that he has been in communication with the School Committee about the site for a permanent school building, and that he hoped very soon to bring the matter to a satisfactory issue. Te Wairoa School (Tarawera Lake) : Teacher, Mr. Cowan. —I had intended to visit this school, but on my way from Tauranga to Ohinemutu I met Mr. Cowan, who informed me that he was going away on sick leave, and that the school was closed. I did not, therefore, consider it necessary to proceed to Te Wairoa. I learned from Mr. Cowan that the new school building has been completed, with the exception of the interior fittings. Rotoiti School: Teacher, Mr. Davis.—From Ohinemutu I proceeded to Rotoiti, on 4th June. I found that the new teacher lately sent up from Wellington had commenced residence. The Natives of Te Taheke and Morea, whose children are taught at this school, were, however, all absent, some attending a meeting at Maketu on the subject of selling land to the Government, and others at their remote cultivations. At the last-named settlement I only saw three Natives, and at the former not a single one. As there were no children, I was unable to inspect the school on this occasion. No blame can, of course, attach to the teacher, who appeared much annoyed at having no pupils, especially as, from his ignorance of the language, he was unable to communicate with the Natives on the subject. I explained to him that such incidents were unavoidable among the semi-nomadic Natives of New Zealand. Subsequently, when I was at Maketu, I saw Te Waata, the Chairman of the Rotoiti School Committee. He informed me that the children would attend school again immediately on his return to Te Taheke, which would be in a few days. Maketu School: Teachers, Mr. and Mrs. Rudman.—l arrived at Maketu on June sth, and on the following day visited the school. 15 children were present out of 28 on the books. I found the Rev. Ihaia Te Ahu's two daughters, to whom I referred in my last report on this school, still attending, and that they had made considerable progress since then. They read very well from an English history, and answered readily grammatical and critical questions thereon; they also displayed a good knowledge of arithmetic up to the rule of three, and of geography. The other scholars were divided into two classes. The first (8 in number) read but indifferently from " Phillip's Second Book;" their spelling and translating into Maori were also indifferent; their writing from dictation was better; while their arithmetic (simple rules) was good. They also had a good knowledge of the addition and multiplication tables. The second class could read a little from an elementary book. Some of the girls had been taught plain and fancy needlework by Mrs. Rudman. I fear that there is some falling off in the numbers attending this school; the teachers complain, moreover, that most of the pupils attend very irregularly, and thus prevent their progressing. The Rev. Ihaia Te Ahu, to whom I spoke on the subject, attributes this to the apathy of the other members of the School Committee, of which he is Chairman. Whakatane School : Teachers, Mr. and Mrs. Stewart.—This school, which I inspected on June Bth, is a very large one, having no less than 88 scholars on the roll. There were only 52 present on that day, some of the most advanced I believe being absent in consequence of the death of a young woman who formerly attended the school. I examined the first class (numbering 11) in reading from "Nelson's No. 4," in spelling, translating, and writing from dictation (easy) ; the second class (8 in number) in reading from " Phillips' Second Book," in spelling and translating; and the third class (13 children), in reading from "Nelson's Third Book," spelling and translating the words into Maori. The fourth class were children learning their letters. The whole of the pupils acquitted themselves but indifferently well in these studies. In arithmetic, however, they appeared to have been well taught; the first class being able to work all the rules up to " practice," and the junior classes the simple rules. The whole school had a good knowledge of the map of New Zealand, and one boy repeated a piece of poetry, in English, very fairly. The children sang " God save the Queen" before dismissal. The discipline was not so good, nor were the pupils so neat in their persons, as at some schools; this, and also their slow progress, is due, in my opinion, to the numbers attending the school being too large for the school building, or for the capacity of one teacher; and yet it would probably give offence to the Natives were any excluded. Mrs. Stewart has been incapacitated by ill health from teaching in the school during a part of the last half-year. An