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Waotu, on the borders of that district; Waimamaku, a somewhat populous settlement in the Hokianga district; Karetu, a settlement in the Bay of Islands remarkably advanced in civilisation; and Tangiteroria, a hitherto neglected district lying between Dargaville and Hokianga. The reopened school is at Poroti. It is in a promising state, and there is scarcely a trace left of the mingled hostility and apathy that led to a cessation of work there. In addition to these seven village schools is to be reckoned a half-time school opened at Lower Waihou, subsidiary to the Whakarapa school. The number of subsidised schools (5) and of boarding-schools (5) remains unchanged. Two schools reckoned in 1885 as half-time schools are now full-time-schools. The school at Riverton was finally closed at the end of the year, as being no longer necessary, seeing that the children can quite well attend the public school of the town. It has been found necessary to suspend operations at To Teko and (temporarily) at Fort Galatea, schools within the range of the devastation consequent upon the volcanic eruption at Tarawera ; and, as is well known, the Tarawera school at Te Wadroa was involved in the total destruction of the settlement. The incident is fresh in the memory of the people of the colony, and needs no description here ; but it is only due to put on public record the esteem in which Mr. Haszard, who together with three of his children and a young nephew perished in the catastrophe, was held, both by the Department and the Natives, as a good man, a good officer, a good teacher, and a good friend of the Maoris, and to express earnest sympathy with Mrs. Haszard and the other surviving members of the family —sympathy which, as the financial statement will show, has found more practical expression in another form. It may be added that Miss Haszard has been appointed to one of the new schools lately opened, at Te Waotu. The number of children who have been sent to boarding-schools by the Department, most of them after passing the highest standard at the village schools, was 75 at the end of the year : 27 boys at S. Stephen's, Parnell; 10 at Te Ante, Hawke's Bay; 20 girls at Hukarere, Napier; 17 at S. Joseph's, Napier; and lat S. Mary's, Ponsonby. At these institutions there were also 87 children not paid for by the Government: 17 boys at S. Stephen's, and 47 at Te Ante; and 23 girls at Hukarere. At the day-schools the roll numbers at the end of the year amounted to 2,346, to be compared with 2,161 at the end of 1885. The average attendance for the last quarter of 1886 was—boys 1,020; girls, 826: total, 1,846. The average attendance for the whole year has been considerably higher than this, the number being 2,020 ; and, as the mean of the four quarterly average roll numbers is 2,343, it follows that the average daily number of pupils in attendance is 86*2 per cent, of the number on the roll, a result which is not equalled in the public schools of any education district. More than 71 per cent. (1,667) of the children are pure Maori, or, if of mixed race, incline to the Maori. Of. half-castes there are 243; of the remaining 436, some, including perhaps 150 children belonging to the teachers, are Europeans. About 3 per cent, of the whole are Maori children under 5 years old, and about 6 per cent, are over 15 ; 52 per cent, are between 5 and 10, and 39 per cent. between 10 and 15. At the examinations during the year there were 1,752 children present, and of these 275 passed in the First Standard, 246 in the Second, 112 in the Third, and 64 in the Fourth (the highest) Standard. The whole number of passes (697) is higher than the corresponding number (648) for the preceding yeax. The number of teachers in day-schools at the end of the year was as follows: 60 masters, with salaries ranging from £210 to £60; 10 mistresses, £145 to £80 ; 26 assistant-mistresses, £35 to £20; and 30 sewing-mistresses, £20 each. Exclusive of the cost of new buildings, and of boarding-school expenses and apprenticeship, the expenditure for 1886 was £14,360 Bs. : £10,705 6s. 7d. was paid in teachers' salaries and allowances ; £336 16s. 2d. on removal of teachers; £845 in retiring allowances; £502 4s. 7d. on books and other school requisites; £275 9s. for prizes; £531 15s. Bd. for repairs and minor works; £765 Is. 6d. for inspection, superintendence, and travelling; £110 18s. Id. in aid of purchase of musical instruments and games, and in consideration of girls

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