2

H.-l

received. This discrepancy is accounted for by the circumstance that, in the case of a few schools, no returns have been furnished, and that, in other instances, the attendance at two or more schools under the same Committee is not given separately. In this enumeration, the Auckland College and Grammar School and the Dunedin High Schools are not included, although they were under the charge of the Education Boards of their respective districts until the end of last year. They are referred to in another part of this report. In the list of schools are included 44 " half-time " schools, situated in the following named districts respectively: Auckland, 30; New Plymouth, 4; "Wellington, 6; and Otago, 4. These half-time schools have been established in sparsely-settled localities, where the number of children of school age is considered too small to warrant the maintenance of an ordinary school. In such cases, it has usually been found advisable to place under the charge of one teacher two small schools, situated at a convenient distance from each other, on the understanding that such teacher should divide his time and attention as fairly as possible between the two schools. As might be expected, the average attendance at the half-time schools is extremely small, being in some instances under fifteen, and in nearly all under twenty pupils. There are, however, many schools to which the services of a teacher have been exclusively assigned, where the attendance is also very small. The following table furnishes information respecting the number of schools, and the state of the attendance, in the several education districts:—

TABLE A.—SCHOOLS.

It is evident that an education district having a large proportion of its schools with small attendances is placed at a disadvantage, for such schools must either be maintained in an efficient condition at a very heavy cost per pupil, or they must be committed to the care of ill-paid and probably inferior teachers. The question of providing for the school education of the children resident in sparsely-peopled localities is an exceedingly difficult one to solve. "With the means at their disposal, Education Boards are naturally reluctant to multiply the number of small schools, and yet at the same time there is an obligation under a national system to place the means of a good school education within the reach of the largest possible number of the youth of the colony. It remains to he seen to what extent the powers conferred on Boards by the 88th section of the Education Act will enable them to provide for the educational wants of " outlying districts" by means of itinerant teachers, aided schools, and half-time schools. Number or Teachers. The number of teachers employed in the schools under the Education Boards during the last quarter of 1877 is returned at 1,400. They may be classified as follows : Headmasters, 577 ; assistant masters, 71; male pupil-teachers, 82; head

Education Districts. g a. O . ■OH S ftS_° £ •> -3 1.2 JB CO - „ * CO o OD t. ft." <_ m s_ to is s. 3s _Dt_ g 3 to 1 "•a 3" i £ ■ i .Number of Schot Attei 3 H 8 "C 03 ar_! 3 ft 1■o to © , H s S s . _ 01 aa 3 — g m )ls in ei idan.ee :h Educal Dr the La US l> ft _r3 a ft 1o 8 ft » • gf _tS g u tion Diet st Quarti rict in which the Average ;r of 1877 was o to ft. ■ "0 _: S3 gfc S 8 CO _M ■ ■** * ga __ p. "3 3 g^ o -_ 1 ■ ■a ° gPH S L O -3 . ft$J 9 >■ Ph o 8 in Luckland ... „ Training Schools few Plymouth 'atea lawke's Bay Wellington rlarlborough felson Vestland ... !anterbury )tago 186 186 7,891 82 496 180 1,130 3,583 761 2,972 1,953 10,736 11,989 49 10 88 44 15 13 10 5 2 25 6 28 79 18 65 28 121 174 25 6 28 73 18 65 27 107 173 ii 8 9 3 G 2 7 6 4 2 5 17 2 f. 6 4 14 1 2 2 18 4 9 2 9 22 9 1 12 9 4 19 6 32 64 1 3 11 3 16 4 21 29 1 4 1 4 1 8 8 1 8 '_ 3 10 10 1 3 1 1 1 10 13 2 1 5 5 2 Totals 200 103 40 ' ' 46 36 j j i to 7 730 708 41,773 96 n 92