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and the provisions, which were carefully sampled, were found to be of excellent quality." Drawing is well taught here, and drill and gymnastics could hardly be better ; lately, too, proper arrangements for teaching singing have been made. On the whole, there is now little or nothing to be desired at this school. Te Maharini Scholarship Examinations for Boys. —This examination was held on the 19th and 20th of December. Twelve candidates presented themselves at various centres, and the scholarships were awarded by the Trustees as follows : To Solomon Koko, of Te Aute, the senior scholarship was given; and junior scholarships to Daniel Savage, of Te Kaha Native School, and James Buhe, of Te Ahuahu Native School. The work of the successful candidates and of two or three of the others was very fair. The weakest places were found in the subjects included under " Writing." The spelling, especially, was decidedly poor. The Protestant Native Girls' School, Hukarere, Napier. —The examination took place on the 29th of November, 1892. Three girls passed the second-year (or final senior) examination, and one failed; six passed the first-year examination, and eight failed; three passed Standard IV., and two failed ; six passed Standard 111., and none failed ; three passed Standard 11., and none failed; nine passed Standard 1., and three failed. These results were not quite so good as those obtained at the previous examination, but the falling-off could be easily accounted for; from one cause and another the pupils sent from the village-schools were not quite up to the usual mark. Two or three extracts from the report on the inspection, held some months previously, are added: "The buildings and grounds present a pleasing appearance, and the domestic arrangements show no sign of a tendency to fall below the usual high standard." " With regard to discipline, it may be said that freedom and restraint have met at just about the right place ; punishments are seldom needed." "The extra subjects receive due attention; drill and drawing are particularly well done ; the singing is not so strikingly good as it has been on previous occasions." A severe epidemic visited this school shortly after the examination took place. It is pleasing to find that, although three of the cases proved fatal, the school attendance was only moderately affected; there are now about forty pupils. The parents apparently recognise the fact that the authorities of the school were blameless in the matter—a recognition that is by no means a matter of course in the case of Maori parents. St. Joseph's Providence, Napier (Roman Catholic) Girls' School. —The examination was held on the 20th November, 1892. Thirty-one girls were present, but only twenty-three of these were Government pupils. Of the girls examined, one passed the second-year examination, and one failed ; two passed the first-year examination, and three failed; two passed Standardly., and two failed; one passed Standard 111., and one failed ; four passed Standard 11., and none failed ; twelve passed the First Standard, and none failed. Extracts from the report on the inspection, held some time before the examination, are appended: "All the school documents as well as the furniture and appliances were in good order, and, as usual, the personal appearance and dress of the pupils, and the arrangements made and given effect to for securing their health and comfort, were all that could be desired. When the details are so carefully attended to it is, perhaps, hardly necessary to say that to a visitor, whether official or not, the tout ensemble appears most satisfactory." " Nearly all the viva voce work here is very well done, but there is a certain amount of weakness in the arithmetic, and more in the spelling. The spelling of the older girls especially needs much attention. The standard work generally is good." " With regard to the extra subjects, it may be said that the singing is on the whole good, much improvement having been effected in the teaching of the rudiments of musical knowledge. The elementary drawing, also, is very much better than it used to be. The physical exercises are taking, and are very well done. The needlework is very good indeed." The Native Convent School at Matata. —lnspected and examined 10th May, 1892. This school was visited at the request of the responsible manager, the Eev. Father Madan. Forty-four children were present at examination : of these, three passed Standard IV., four passed Standard 111., six passed Standard 11., and ten passed Standard I. The results were very pleasing. It is unusual for new teachers to succeed in doing as much with Maori children as the Sisters have done with those that they have taken in hand here at Matata. Statistics. A statement of the expenditure incurred in connection with Native schools will be found in Tables Nos. 1 and 2 of the Appendix. Table No. 3 gives the ages of the children whose names were on the Native-school registers at the end of the December quarter. Table No. 4 contains statistics of the attendance during the year 1892. In Table No. 5 there is full information with regard to the race of the children that attend Native schools. Table No. 6 shows the examination results for the year ; and Table No. 7 gives the inspection results. When the two kinds of results for each school are taken together they form the basis for the computation of the gross percentage, on which depend the relative positions of the different schools for the year 1892. A few statistical results may be stated here : — The total expenditure for 1892 on Native schools was £14,290 45., against £15,378 7s. 6d. for 1891. The percentages of children of particular ages attending Native schools in 1892 hardly differ from the corresponding percentages for 1891. For instance, 3994 per cent, of the pupils in 1892 were between ten and fifteen. The percentage for 1891 was 4012. The average attendance for 1892 was 121-25 less than it was in 1891. This was partly owing to the reduction in the number of schools ; partly to the high price of gum, which has the effect in the northern districts of withdrawing children from the schools in order that they may dig for gum ; and partly to the prevalence of epidemic sickness. 2—E. 2.