E.—3

1886. NEW ZEALAND.

EDUCATION: INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS AND ORPHANAGES (PAPERS RELATING TO). [In Continuation of E.-3, 1885.]

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

_No. 1. Extract from Ninth Annual Eeport of the Minister of Education. Under " The Industrial Schools Act, 1882," 340 children (199 boys and 141 girls) were committed in 1885. Of these, 220 were destitute children, 13 vagrant, 30 were living in disreputable places, 48 were committed as uncontrollable, and 29 as guilty of punishable offences. Two of them had been to high schools, 3 to private schools, 39 to Roman Catholic schools, 159 to Board schools, 129 to no school (many being too young), and information is wanting as to the 8 remaining. As to the faith in which they are to be brought up, 154 belong to the Church of England, 113 are Boman Catholics, 55 Presbyterians, 10 Baptists, 6 Wesleyans, and one is described as a Methodist, and another as Protestant. The information supplied as to the parents of these children shows that in 35 cases the condition of the children is traceable to misconduct on the part of the father and mother, in 89 other cases to that of the father, and in 65 others to that of the mother; in 118 cases death, sickness, or other trouble appears to be the sole cause of destitution; in l 4 cases such misfortune was at least in part the cause of destitution; and in_l9 cases there is not sufficient information to justify any conclusion. The following table will bear out this statement:—

TABLE U.—Committed Children classified according to Parents' Circumstances and Character.

By section 17 of the Industrial Schools Act a parent having a child whom he is unable to control may obtain from a magistrate an order for the child's COJRmittal, on giving sufficient evidence and security for payment for the main--I—E. 3.

Mothers described as Children of Sick, t_ -, Lunatic, Doaa- Disabled, &c. .._ .- „ Not Of Good known Character or n0^ (or poor). statecL Of Bad Character. Deserters. Total. 'athers described as— Dead Sick, lunatic, disabled, &c. .. Of good character (or poor) .. Not known or not described .. Of bad character Deserters 36 1 22 5 20 16 1 8 16 1 7 6 10 1 17 1 2 L8 7 1 13 6 16 9 1G 2 20 20 17 11 1 3 3 3 _ 77 16 88 35 66 59 Totals .. 100 89 50 51 86 1.4 340