9

E.—2

caused the number of passes and the examination percentage this year to be rather low. The schoolhouse, the residence, the garden and grounds are for both beauty and utility highly satisfactory. Even with the drawbacks mentioned above Te Matai is a model Native school. Matata (examined 20th May, 1899). —The parents of the pupils are evidently making a great struggle to keep their school going. Its condition had been very low towards the close of 1898, but a great change for the better had taken place at the beginning of 1899. In some subjects, notably mental arithmetic, decided strength was shown. The reading of the juniors was very weak. On the whole the results were, at the best, only fair. Given a regular attendance the Teacher produces good results. Otamauru (examined sth June, 1899). —The exigencies of the service-have necessitated the making of rather frequent changes here, and this has not been altogether advantageous to the school. It is hoped that a state of equilibrium has now been reached, one that will last for some time at all events. At the examination there was some reason to be disappointed with the English and the arithmetic, in other subjects the work was quite satisfactory. The older staff had been away too long a time, and the newer one had arrived too recently, to allow either to be justly blamed for shortcomings. Poroporo (examined 3rd June, 1899). —This was, on the whole, the best examination ever held at Poroporo. The work generally was very good. In some subjects—viz., dictation, " comprehension of what is read," writing, book arithmetic in all classes, and vivd voce arithmetic in Standard IV. —the work was all excellent: so also the needlework. The Teachers deserve warm commendation for the condition of their school. Slight weakness appeared in some parts of the geography, and in the junior mental arithmetic. As a civilising agency this school has been of great value ; also, the general tone strikes one as being very satisfactory. Buatoki (examined 2nd June, 1899). —A temporary falling-off in the attendance had taken place; the causes were (1) the removal of the Waimana children to their own school, and (2) the " crisis " which almost invariably comes to a new Native school towards the close of its second or third year; when parents find that the special kind of good expected from the school has not manifested itself, while they have not yet learnt the value of the work that it actually does. The results were quite as good as could be expected, and there is every reason to hope that next year's examination will show that the recovery now in progress has been completed. Wai-o-weka (examined 6th June, 1899). —After inspection the Chairman informed me that his aspirations were thoroughly satisfied ; on the one hand the children's education was being well attended to, and, on the other, there was no harshness in dealing with them. Never before had the school been so attractive to the children and so satisfactory to the parents. I am inclined to take the same kind of view, generally. At examination the upper class did very well indeed; the next class was fairly good; in the lower classes the reading was not up to the mark. Much of the work was unusually thorough. Omarumutu (examined 7th June, 1899). —The school tone is very good throughout; the children work with diligence and intelligence, and show much interest in their lessons. The examination was very satisfactory indeed; not only was the number of passes large, but their quality also was very good indeed. At Omarumutu most of the characteristic Native-school difficulties have been grappled with, and overcome to an extent that is highly creditable to the Master and his very hard-working Assistant. The school-building, however, was found to be very old and rotten, and it will soon have to be renewed. Torere (examined Bth June, 1899). —The order is decidedly good; the only fault in the discipline is that copying is sometimes observable. The Master finds difficulty in persuading the Maoris to agree with his views concerning dress and tidiness, and this at times leads to friction. At the same time the children are gradually becoming tidier, and even cleaner than they used to be. This is, of course, a kind of difficulty almost unknown in European schools. At examination the EnglishTand the reading were rather weak ; the rest of the work was pleasing. Omaio (examined 9th June, 1899). —There is now no disorder. The tone could hardly be better ; the schoolps looked upon by the Maoris as one of their most important interests. The results of the examination were not very extensive, but they were good. As the Master has grown older his work has become stronger, and on this occasion the passes were better than ever; of the failures many were almost passes. Mr. Bow's health has seemed to be very precarious. The school work now and again had prostrated him entirely, and he was afraid that he would be unable to continue working after the end of the current year. Te Kaha (examined 10th June, 1899). —Te Kaha School-room is not surpassed by any in the service tor elegant and serviceable arrangement. The work of examination was exceedingly pleasant; it was not that the number of passes was great, but, rather, that the quality of them was unusually high. Eight of the eighteen passes were made by thoroughly well trained children, and there is good promise for next year of even better things. At a meeting with the committee a proposal was made that children should not go to Te Aute or Hukarere as soon as they had passed Standard IV., but should stay on for a while and work for a higher Fourth, which should include deeper knowledge of Standard IV. subjects, and a considerable amount of technical work. The proposal is a good one, but special arrangements would be necessary to give effect to it. Baukokore (examined 12th June, 1899). —The front garden here is pretty, but the back of the residence is less pleasing. The state of the school was peculiar, and such as to cause grave anxiety. The upper school children were strong and good, while the lower classes were exceedingly weak. The Master now recognises the fact that if the Preparatories and the First and Second Standards do not receive much more attention it will, when the present seniors pass out, be impossible to get any passes at all. 2—B. 2.