E.—3

1890. NEW ZEALAND.

EDUCATION: INDUSTRIAL SCHOOLS (PAPERS RELATING TO).

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

No. 1. extract prom thirteenth annual report op the minister of education. Industrial Schools. The management of the Industrial Schools has been now for ten years in the hands of the Education Department. In 1880 the number of children committed to the schools was 241, and in 1885 (the year in which the Hospital and Charitable Aid Act was passed) the number committed was 340, the average number of committals for the six years included between the two dates being 298-5. During this period the number of children depending on the schools for their maintenance increased from 572 to 1,116. During the last four years the maximum of committals has been less than the minimum for the preceding six years, the numbers being (in order of date) 2.38, 228, 190, and 169. The effect of such a continuous reduction in the number of committals is beginning to appear in the form of a reduction in the number of children depending on the schools for maintenance. From 1,116 in 1885 this number rose to 1,129 in 1886, and to 1,158 in 1887, and, having reached this maximum, has declined in the two succeeding years to 1,106 and 1,054. The whole number of "inmates," including those who are out at service or licensed on probation to their friends, increased from 807 in 1880 to 1,566 in 1885, and has since declined to 1,525. The year 1889 began with 1,554 inmates on the school-rolls, 1,106 of them being dependent for maintenance (605 in the schools and 501 boarded out). During the year 169 were admitted to the schools, and 198 were discharged, the roll-number being thus reduced to 1,525, of whom 1,054 are dependent for maintenance (600 in the schools and 454 boarded out). The number " discharged " (198) included —17 (L2 boys and 5 girls) transferred to the Costley Institute ; 6 who attained the age of twenty-one years; 1 who was married during the year; 1 who was adopted; and 6 children who died. The number of deaths has been greater than in either of the two next preceding years, but below the average of the preceding five years, the numbers for six years (including the year 1889) being as follows : 10, 8, 9, 4, 4, 6 : total 41. These 41 cases are distributed among the schools as follows: Nelson, 17 ; Caversham, 12; Burnham, 6; Auckland, 3; Wellington, 2; Ponsonby, 1. The six cases of the year were as follows : At Nelson, two boys of twelve years died of meningitis ; a girl of ten died of haematemesis, having been ill from the time of her admission; and an idiot boy of eight died of atrophy. At Christchurch Hospital, a girl of eleven, from Burnham, died of meningitis. At Caversham, a boy of fifteen died suddenly from heart disease. The numbers for 1888 and 1889 are compared and classified in Table T. I—E. 3.