E.—l

V

The cases of failure among 83,230 examined in standards being 12,943, it may be said that 15 - 55 is the percentage of failures. Using the term in this sense, the percentage of failures for each separate standard can be derived from the numbers stated in Table GK with the following result: Percentage of failures in Standard L, 4-54; 11., 8-23; 111., 19-58; IV., 23-46 ; V., 23-88; VI., 15-58.

TABLE G.—Passes.

The statistics of standard passes throw some light on the actual number of the individual pupils who at some time or other during the year attended at the public schools. Table B read by itself would convey an exaggerated idea of this number. Since it is there shown that the number on the roll at the beginning of 1895 was 119,000, and that 48,344 names were enrolled during the year, it might be supposed that 168,244 individual pupils had attended, and that the number of pupils that actually left school in twelve months was 45,778 (38,388 as stated in the table, plus 7,400, which is the difference between the roll-number at the end of 1894 and the roll-number at the beginning of 1895). The truth is, however, that the high number of the admissions and withdrawals is largely due to removals from school to school, and to long absences involving re-registration. It is not likely that the number of new entries in any one year greatly exceeds 15,000; the largest number of pupils enumerated in any line of Table C, where the classification is according to age with intervals of a year, is 15,043. By taking account of the passes into any standard class from below and of the passes out of that class into the next above, and by comparing thei numbers in that class in two successive years, it is possible to ascertain the minimum of assured leakage, or of clear increase, as the case may be. A calculation of this kind makes it certain that in 1895 at least 15,853 really neW pupils must have entered the preparatory and First Standard and Second Standard classes, and that at least 13,297 must have left the primary schools altogether. These 13,297, divided according to the standards last passed by them, stand as follows: Sixth Standard, 5,177 (or 3893 per cent, of 13,297); Fifth Standard, 2,205 (or 1658 per cent.); Fourth Standard, 2,927 (or 22*01 per cent.); Third Standard, 1,760 (or 13:24 per cent.); Second Standard, 1,228 (or 9 - 24 per cent.).- Any error arising from the manifest insufficiency of the data has the effect of making the pupils appear to leave earlier than they actually do leave. Three years ago the percentages ascertained by a similar calculation were (in the same order) 31J, 111, 22, 20, and 9. The next Table (H) presents in another point of view facts which an expert might deduce with sufficient accuracy from Table D.

Education Districts. I. P_ II. Passes in Standards. 'ass. es in £ III. Standards. IV. V. VI. Present at Examination. I. II. III. IV. V. VI. Auckland Taranaki Wanganui Wellington Hawke's Bay Marlborough Nelson Grey Westland North Canterbury South Canterbury Otago Southland 3,085 393 1,195 1,463 880 295 688 177 148 2,453 607 2,415 1,086 3,217 390 1,272 1,552 840 262 713 183 181 2,549 670 2,571 1,235 3,059 307 1,022 1,470 704 282 631 137 170 2,418 617 2,507 1,073 2,405 216 697 1,220 562 202 550 158 151 2,204 490 2,205 892 1,464 105 362 873 291 144 324 104 121 1,616 342 1,668 522 954 42 197 607 179 103 333 70 72 1,133 233 1,188 371 3,236 477 1,339 1,525 1,016 307 748 181 169 2,551 615 2,445 1,150 3,559 512 1,433 1,705 944 283 785 194 200 2,746 699 2,672 1,305 3,655 531 1,387 1,795 895 331 841 179 194 3,132 764 2,830 1,369 3,137 409 983 1,594 762 253 762 221 183 2,813 647 2,607 1,241 1,881 204 578 1,174 468 175 494 140 162 2,061 441 1,920 727 1087 65 290 799 251 111 439 92 82 1309 273 1254 442 For the colony 15,759 17,037 17,903 15,612 10,425 6494 14,885 15,635 14,397 11,952 7,936 15,482