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WANGANTJI. Sib,— Wanganui, 28th February, 1882. I have the honor to present to you my third general and detailed report on the schools examined by me for the year ending the 31st December, 1881. At the outset I remark —(1.) That between the Ist of March and the sth of September, in. addition to official work connected with the annual examination of the pupil-teachers and the scholarships examination, I made " surprise visits " to all the schools under inspection in my district. These visits are of the first importance, as they enable the Inspector to see the schools in their everyday dress and working capacity, and afford an excellent opportunity of forming a judgment of the organization, methods, and discipline by which the teachers work their several schools. At these periodical visits the pupil-teachers (where employed) are required to teach a class before the Inspector to enable him to judge of their teaching power, and bearing, and other collateral matters. The teachers, too, avail ttieniselves of the privilege accorded to them of considering educational matters with their Inspector. (2.) That between the sth of September and the 23rd of December, by dint of excessive hard work, and working on for a week into the time set apart for the Christmas holidays, I managed to complete without hitch the examination of all the schools within the year. The work involved in the examination has gone on steadily increasing, not so much from the addition of new schools as from the large increase of children presented, especially in Standards IV., V., and VI. (3.) That in my report of last year I stated that throughout the examinations I had gone more literally by the standard requirements than I felt warranted in doing in 1879. This year I have taken them in their entirety. And, as last year, the examinations in Standards 1., 11., and 111. were for the most part conducted orally, and those in Standards IV., V., and VI. by means of written papers, which I received, revised, and valued after school hours. The number of written leaves of foolscap given in was 3,990, and the time devoted to their revisal 180 hours. (4.) That, as far as it was practicable to do so, I took the papers, after they had been examined and valued, to the several schools, so that the teachers and the scholars might see the weak points and the strong ones. I have no doubt this will be found more effective in improving the work done than a lengthy notice in my report that such and such a subject was unsatisfactory, and that it should have been done in such and such a way. It will also be specially valuable in doing away with much of the looseness which prevails in some of the schools in setting down the work. (5.) That, as a basis in forming a judgment of the character of the work done in the several schools, I took into account not only the individual test, but also as most important factors the discipline, order, and moral tone of the classes. (G.) That shortly after the examination of each school I furnished the Chairman, as I did last year, with the schedules containing the names of those children who had passed the several standards, so that standard certificates might be issued in accordance with Order in. Council of the 24th of September, 1878, subsection 3. In this report I purpose to confine myself principally to the results of the work of the past year, and to a few remarks upon them. Schools and Staff. —The number of public schools in my district is 57. These are officered by 40 certificated teachers (32 male and 8 female) ; 35 uncertificated teachers (16 male and 19 female) ; 34 pupil-teachers (7 male and 27 female) ; and 8 unpaid cadets (5 male and 3 female) : total, 117. Teachees and Pupil-Teachers.—l have pleasure in reporting that the teachers in connection with the Board are, as a rule, well qualified for their work, and that they have not relaxed their efforts nor declined in efficiency. On the contrary, in most of the schools the work is energetically and laudably performed with evenness and equality of progress. In general the pupil-teachers are attentive, anxious, and painstaking. The bulk of their written papers at the annual examination are distinguished by fulness and intelligence. Their conduct too is highly commendable, and many of them make an excellent appearance in teaching a class before the Inspector, on the occasion of his " surprise visits." This is due in a large measure to their having got careful training in the art of teaching and in class management. And both as to acquirements and teaching-power they will, I think, compare favourably with pupil-teachers in any other part of the colony. Statistics of Individual Examination.—Following the course adopted in my former report I have drawn out the subjoined tables, which embrace the following particulars : (1.) The number of children on the roll in each school and in each county on the days of examination. (2.) The strict working average for the past year. (3.) The number present. (4.) The number presented for a formal pass in the several standards. (5.) The number that rose to a pass. (6.) The number that failed to rise. (7.) The number that were raised from a lower to a higher standard in the course of the year. (8.) The percentage raised. (9.) The number that passed in reading, spelling, writing, arithmetic, grammar, geography, history, and sewing. (10.) The average age of the children in the several standards. (11.) The number of children examined from one or other of the standard classes, but who, from faulty classification or from other satisfactory reasons, were not presented for a formal pass, and of children not sufficiently advanced to be presented in Standard I. (12.) The whole number examined. Patea County.—ln this county there are 11 schools under inspection. These are officered by 8 certificated teachers (7 male and 1 female) ; 6 uncertificated teachers (1 male and 5 female) ; 7 pupilteachers (2 male and 5 female) : total, 21. The number of children on the roll on the days of examination was 462 boys and 407 girls : total, 869. The strict working average for the year was 348 boys and 300 girls : total, 648. The number present was 387 boys and 31<8 girls : total, 735. Of these, 141 were presentedfor a formal pass in Standard I.; 129 in 11. ; 130 in III.; 31 in IV. ;13in V. ; and 7in VI.: total, 451. Of these, 13 L rose to a pass in Standard I. ; in 11., 120; in 111., 114; in IV., 27; in V., 12 ;in VI., 7 : total, 411. And there failed to rise in Standard I. 10 ; in 11, 9 ; in 111., 16 ; in IV., 4; in V., 1 ; and in VI., 0 : total, 40. The number that rose from a lower to a higher standard in the course of the year was 142 boys and 117 girls: total, 239. Percentage raised, 831. There passed in reading, 433 ; in spelling, 394$ in writing, 411; in arithmetic, 363 ; in grammar, 146; in geography, 2GI; in history, 143; in sewing, 151. The total number of passes in these subjects was 2,332. The average age of the children presented for a formal pass in Standard I. was B'7 years ;in 11., 96 years; in 111., 115 years; in IV., 125 years; in V., 132 years; in VI., 137 years. The