E.—IB.

11

Prom this table it will be seen that in the matter of attendance at school the boys predominate over the girls to the extent of 144 per cent., and that the difference is further increased to 205 per cent, when the regularity of both is taken into account. In order to point out still further the irregularity that prevails in the district, I have obtained returns showing the number of first and second class certificates of attendance gained by pupils from among the 4,609 children who have been present at all during the year ending 3lst December, 1881, in accordance with section 79 of the Education Act. From these returns it appears that there were 23 schools where no first class certificates of attendance were gained by pupils; 18 schools where no second class certificates were gained; 15 schools where neither first nor second class certificates were gained; and altogether only 19 certificates of the first class and 50 of the second class were gained throughout the district, and of these the boys gained 43 and the girls 26. Surely such facts as these ought to be sufficient to show that the time has arrived for the introduction of compulsory attendance, pure and simple, as it is clear that irregularity prevails to an enormous extent in this district, and among the girls much more than the boys. Further, it is evident that at least 300 girls of school age are constantly kept at home in the Hawke's Bay District who ought to be attending and receiving instruction at school were not section 89 of the Education Act a dead-letter. These girls, whose influence on another generation will be so much felt, for good or evil, are growing up in ignorance of the commonest elements of instruction, and this in a land where so much of its material prosperity must depend on the intelligence as well as on the energy of its people. Each visit I make to the schools in this district my conviction grows stronger that the School Committees, with their limited means, can do little or nothing to check the growth of irregular attendance, and policemen, whose districts range from fifteen to twenty miles, are unable to aid to any extent those Committees who might desire to enforce the attendance at school of children whose parents appear indifferent and neglectful. I sincerely hope that the question of irregular attendance will be considered by the Board as its importance demands. For the past four years I have made it my business to watch carefully the effect of irregularity upon the results in the schools, and I am convinced that one-half of the teachers' difficulties in school work may be referred solely to the indifference 'of parents as manifested by the irregularity of their offspring at school. Examination. —Passing now to the work of examination, I have to report that all the schools have been examined in accordance with the Government standard regulations. The number presented for examination, the number examined, and the number who passed, will be found in the following tabulations: —

The results here given when compared with those of last year show a large increase in the numbers who have passed the standard requirements, and no doubt this increase would have been still larger had all those who were presented on the examination schedules been at school on the day of examination. This increase in the number of passes during 1881 by no means represents the absolute gain for the year. It is in the quality of the work as well as in the quantity that progress has to be measured, and last year stands well in this respect. In 1880, 93 children in Hawke's Bay passed Standard IV., 25 passed Standard V., and none Standard VI.; but last year 140 children passed in Standard IV., 37 in Standard V., and 10 in Standard VI. I would point out that in my standard examinations every boy or girl who has passed the necessary tests has obtained at least 60 per cent, of the marks obtainable in the examination. The number 10 is my standard of excellence in each subject, and, instead of passing or failing a boy in any subject, I merely give a number varying between 1 and 10, which represents my judgment of his qualifications in that subject. The marks are afterwards totalled up, and, if 60 per cent, of the total marks obtainable have been gained, no matter in what subjects, the boy passes the standard examination. By thus estimating the capabilities of children with a number, teachers know in what subjects their pupils have done well or the reverse, and the progress of each pupil in each subject can be traced through a series of years; but, what is of more importance still, individuality as far as possible is promoted —a feature which, I very much regret to say, is rapidly disappearing from our schools. Although there has been a great advance in the work done in the schools, much yet remains to be done. In Table B* appended to this report, which gives a summary of the standard results in each school, it will be seen how very low relatively is the percentage of passes to the number of children attending school. The highest percentage was at Havelock, where 62 per cent, of all the children in the school passed my reading, writing, and arithmetic tests, and the lowest was at Patutahi, where only 19 per cent, of the children passed in those subjects. This will

* Not reprinted,

1881. Number Prese: itea. Bxi iminei 'assed. 1880. Passi id. en | So M. P. T. 1 o y PM M. P. T. "3 O M. F. T. o u Pm 11. P. T. S I. II. III. IV. V. VI. 301 264 219 98 37 11 257 240 171 76 17 2 558 501 390 174 54 13 17-8 164 12-5 5 5 1-7 •4 256 228 182 80 35 11 208 212 139 73 15 i 464 440 321 153 50 13 14 9 142 10-3 49 16 ■4 225 202 154 69 22 10 161 172 117 66 15 386 374 271 135 37 10 12-4 123 8-7 43 1-2 ■3 199 176 104 53 19 174 158 103 40 6 373 334 207 93 25 12-4 11-1 69 31 •83 'otals i i i 930 763 1,693 54 3 792 649 1,441 463 682 531 1,213 392 I 551 481 1,032 3433