E.—2

8

Wairau. —Good work was done at this little school by the master, who has since been removed to Papawai. Waikawa. —The Native population of the district seems to be slowly, but surely, decreasing ; of course the school decreases too. Mangamaunu. —A new master has been sent here, the former teacher having been promoted to one of the Hokianga schools. Onuku. —The character of this school has been sufficiently described in former reports. The master had been very successful, and the Department decided to remove him to Akuaku, a place where there was room for the display of special ability. The experiment so far has been very successful. Wairewa. —There is a Board school not very far from the Native school. I think the time has now nearly arrived when all such Native schools should be abolished, the teachers being removed to districts where Native schools are really needed. Rapaki. —This always was a capital school, and it is so still. Kaiapoi. —Though this is one of the best Native schools in the colony, it is a question whether it ought not to be handed over to the Board. As far as 1 can judge, the children are all quito capable of profiting by the instruction ordinarily given to European children, and it is quite certain that the special qualifications of the teachers would bo of more use in a purely Native district than they are at Kaiapoi. Waikouaiti. —What has been said of Kaiapoi applies, mutatis mutandis, to Waikouaiti, but perhaps with still greater force, seeing that the children of the latter place are European to a farlarger extent than arc those of the former. The principal argument in favour of keeping this and the two previously-mentioned schools as they are is that they are all three very good schools, and that it is generally desirable " to let well alone." Port Molyneux. —A small, but satisfactory, school. There had been a great deal of illness here. Riverton. —Steps are being taken to remove the teachers and to close the school. The reasons for this have been fully stated in former reports. Colac Bay. —A large and very good school. It is probable that it will do good work as a Native school for a long time to come. The Neck. —Mr. Arthur Traill, who for many years had done excellent work in Stewart Island as teacher, missionary, and general adviser to the Natives and half-castes of the island, has been compelled, through ill-health, to resign his position. The loss of his valuable services is much regretted by the inhabitants of the island and by the Department. Miscellaneous. Expenditure. —A statement of the expenditure incurred in connection with Native scho ;!s, ami of the way in which this expenditure has been distributed, will be found in Tables Nos. I and 2. Of the total net Government expenditure on Native schools, £18,043 18s. 5d., the sum of £11,532 12s. 6d. was paid for salaries and allowances, inspection, general school requisites, travelling, and other ordinary expenditure in connection with village schools; the remainder defrayed the cost of boarding-schools, building, fencing, and furniture, and of the school at Chatham Islands. In 1880, the year when the present system was initiated, the ordinary expenditure on village schools was £10,198 10s. In 1880 the working average attendance was 1,239-75, while in 1886 it was 1,831-83. Thus an extra average attendance of 592-8 is maintained, at an increased cost of £1,334 2s. 6d.; and the average cost per pupil has been reduced by £1 18s. 7d. In 1880 the total net Government expenditure on Native schools was £16,898 7s. 4d., or £1,155 11s. Id. less than that of 1885. In 1880 the sum of £1,933 14s. lid. was paid for buildings, as against £4,235 12s. lid. in 1885; while in 1885 £1,532 15s. was paid for children in boarding-schools, as against £4,766 2s. sd. for boarding-schools, and educating and apprenticing the sons and daughters of Native chiefs, in 1880. As the cost of maintaining children at boarding-schools is very great, it appears that the tendency now is to increase the facilities alforded for the education of Native children generally, and to diminish the expenditure on individuals and classes. Table No. 3 gives the ages of the children on the books of the Native village schools at the 31st December, 1885. The percentages from this and similar tables of former years are collated in Table A. Table A. —Ages. 1880. 1881. 1882. 1883. 1884. 1885. Under five years .. .. 6-1 4-73 3-21 4-11 4-72 3'38 Five and under ten .. .. 51-0 52-49 53-66 52-37 50-45 54*74 Ten and under fifteen.. .. 35-8 35'37 35'62 37-23 38"45 37-25 Over fifteen.. .. .. 7-1 7'41 7-51 6-29 638 463 100-0 100-00 100-00 100-00 100-00 10000 This table shows that within the period embraced by the statistics the percentage of pupils between five and fifteen has increased from 86'8 to 91-99. It is satisfactory to find that the-