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South Island Schools. Waikawa (examined 2nd December, 1897). —In the lower part of the school the work was unusually weak; there was no fluency in reading or in the English work. Further up the school the attainments were much better, and in some places deserved to be called good. At the best the attendance here is somewhat irregular, and this tends to lower the character of the examination work. Wairau (examined 3rd December, 1897). —Besults were satisfactory. Some weakness appeared in geography and viva voce arithmetic ; the rest of the work was decidedly strong. The extra subjects are well taught, especially singing and drill. The teachers deserve a more productive school. Mangamaunu (visited 7th November, 1897). —There had been two changes in the management during the year : no examination took place. Little Biver (examined 11th October, 1897). —With the exception of the arithmetic of Standards V. and VI., the work was generally satisfactory. A lesson on the evil effects of living in illventilated rooms and breathing carbonic-acid gas was given in a crowded schoolroom, with ventilators and windows all carefully closed. Happily there were two broken window-panes ! Kaiapoi (examined 9th October, 1897). —The results of the examination were fairly good. The attendance, however, had fallen off considerably. It was thought that the holding of the Land Court at Kaiapoi had been the cause of this. At any rate, it is not unusual for such functions to distract the children's attention from their school work. Bapaki (examined 2nd September, 1897). —Here, too, the results were fairly good. The school had had to suffer from the removal of its old teacher to another school, and to spend six months under a relieving teacher to whom Native-school work had not yet become quite familiar. The teaching seen was, however, thoughtful and painstaking, and given in a clear and forceful style. Arowhenua (examined 12th October, 1897). —Here the children answer promptly and in formal sentences, and the standards are remarkably even. There was, however, very considerable weakness in the Standard V. arithmetic. The order and the tone are quite admirable. Waikouaiti (examined 14th October, 1897). — Here, too, the order and tone are particularly good. The lower part of the school is more promising than the upper. Arithmetic and geography are very weak among the seniors. Insufficient attention is given to pilotage of pupils; remnants are observable of the old-fashioned plan of letting the children find their own way first—on the principle, one might suppose, that if they strike a rock they will ever afterwards know exactly where it is. The Neck, Stewart Island (examined 7th February, 1898). —The teaching here is conscientious and thoughtful. It is marked by the absence of what is mechanical and what is perfunctory. The results are decidedly good ; there is no general weakness. The garden and grounds form important features of the school; they are, in fact, a valuable object-lesson for all who are willing to learn from them. (Since these lines were written, Mr. J. yon Tunzelmann, master of the school at The Neck, has died. He was a very scholarly man, and a conscientious and skilful teacher. Mr. yon Tunzelmann did excellent work at Stewart Island, and it would not be easy to find a successor having such high qualifications.) The following schools have this year obtained a gross percentage of 80 or over 80: Omanaia, Hokianga, under Mrs. Cockroft, obtained 92-1; Mawhitiwhiti, Taranaki, 88-0; Hiruharama, East Coast, 87-6; Te Araroa, East Coast, 85-5; Waiomatatini, East Coast, 82-5; Kaikohe, Bay of Islands, 81-9; Tokomaru, East Coast, 81-4; Bangitukia, East Coast, 81T ; Tikitiki, East Coast, 81-0. The schools at the following places also gained 70 per cent, or more : Otamauru, Te Matai, Wharekahika, Te Kaha, Kopua, Arowhenua, Poroporo, Paeroa, Whangaruru, The Neck, Omarumutu, Pukepoto, Mangamuka, Motukaraka, Pukawa (Tokaanu), Omaio, Kawhia, Kaiapoi, Karetu, Kenana, and Te Ahuahu. Thus thirty schools made more than 70 per cent., as against twenty-six schools for 1896. Of the schools actually examined, five made less than 50 per cent., as against seven for 1896. Boarding-schools, etc. Under this heading a brief account is given of the work done at each of the four Native boardingschools during the year 1897, and also abstracts of the reports on the Convent Native School at Matata, and the Church of England Mission Schools at Waerenga-a-Hika, Otaki, and Putiki. Information is also given with regard to the annual examination for the Te Makarini Scholarships, which are provided for from a fund established by Mr. B. D. Douglas McLean, M.H.8., in accordance with the views and wishes of the late Sir Donald McLean, and in remembrance of him. These scholarships, it may be added, have exercised an important and highly beneficial, although for the most part indirect, influence on the Native schools of New Zealand; they have also been instrumental in bringing to the Maori front many able young men who, without the aid of the scholarships, would very possibly have been quite undistinguished. St. Joseph's Boman Catholic Native Girls' School, Napier. —Two visits were paid to this school in the course of the year 1897 : it was inspected on the sth of February, and the examination took place on the 7th of December ; thirty Government and twenty-two private pupils were examined. Extracts from the reports sent in will give a fairly correct idea of the condition of the school, and the proficiency of the pupils : " The dormitories, dining-rooms, lavatory, and drainage arrangements were carefully inspected." " The meals are served up in good style, and there is abundance of food." " The senior class appeared to need some systematic training in the answering of questions. Accordingly a ' paper' was dealt with in the presence of this class, with the object of impressing on the pupils' minds the importance of a correct appreciation of the exact scope of questions, and of a systematic arrangement of the matter of tne answers. Quite incidentally the girls showed that they had a firm grip of the subjects dealt with in the paper—geography and elementary

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