E.—l

II

adopt the working average as the basis of payments to Boards and of all tables and returns; the working average, in fact, becomes henceforth the only average recognised, and the strict average disappears. In many of the tables of the present report both are given, in order to preserve continuity, and to enable a comparison to be made with the returns of previous years, in which the strict average was for the most part the one that was used. The working average for 1900 was 111,748, an increase of 1,432 on that of 1899, which was 110,316. In 1898" the average was 111,636, and in 1897, 112,828.

TABLE A.—School Attendance and Yearly Increase from 1877 to 1900.

The average of the weekly roll-numbers throughout the year shows a further falling off from that of 1899, which was less than the year before, the figures being 132,897 for 1900, as against 133,540 for 1899, a decrease of 643. If we attempt to discover the reason for this falling off in the roll-number by an examination of the roll-numbers at the end of the year (see Table C), we find that it is not due to any diminution in the number of young children entering the schools, inasmuch as the number of children under nine years of age was 235 more at the end of 1900 than in December, 1899. On the other hand, the ■number of children over fourteen years of age was 407 less than in the previous year, a fact that seems to show that a slightly greater number obtained employment as soon as the labour age was reached. It is not so easy to explain the falling off of 419 in the number of children on the roll between the ages of nine and fourteen. It might, for instance, be due to an increase in the number of those who unfortunately escape going to school altogether, or to an increase in the number on the rolls of private schools. In any case, the decrease is not such as in a single year need cause alarm. It is, however, refreshing to note that the average attendance for the whole year is greater than in any previous year except 1897. Expressed as a percentage of the average weekly rollnumber, it gives 84* 1 per cent, as representing the regularity of attendance during the year. This is higher than the corresponding percentage for any previous year. In 1897 the average attendance reached 88-9 per cent, of the roll, but in 1899 it fell to 82 - 6 per cent. Table A shows the attendance for the twenty-three years that have elapsed since the passing of the Education Act.

School Attendance. Yearly In< srease on Year. '. I "3° a s> a i I H a dsm & a ° o Average At Fourth Quarter. jteridance.* S&S.S <a o SSSf-3 Scdm . Big? S §.9iX . <D O — I 'A GO §!$!• ss * I T3 5 H o 'as fit Average Atl iendance. IWhole Year. Fourth Quarter. Whole Tear. 1877 1878 1879 18S0 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 50,849 59,707 68,124 74,359 76,309 79,416 84,883 90,670 95,377 99,206 103,534 104,919 108,158 110,665 112,279 114,305 116,819 119,900 122,425 123,533 123,892 123,207 123,416 55,688 65,040 75,566 82,401 83,560 87,179 92,476 97,238 102,407 106,328 110,919 112,685 115,456 117,912 119,523 122,620 124,686 127,300 129,856 131,037 132,197 131,621 131,315 130,724 49,435 57,301 62,946 63,009 66,426 70,077 74,650 80,183 83,361 87,386 90,849 94,308 96,670 96,264 100,917 99,872 107,032 108,708 110,274 111,952 109,561 109,050 111,498 45,521 53,067 60,625 61,822 63,709 67,373 72,657 78,327 80,737 85,637 90,108 93,374 94,632 97,058 99,070 98,615 104,996 108,394 110,517 112,328 111,636 110,316 111,747 73'8 74-6 74-2 73-6 74-0 754 76-6 761 77-0 79-3 80'3 79-9 803 806 78-5 81-8 82-8 83-3 83-9 83-4 82-6 84-1 8,858 8,417 6,235 1,950 3,107 5,467 5,787 4,707 3,829 4,328 1,385 3,239 2,507 1,614 2,026 2,514 3,081 2,525 1,108 359 [-685] 209 9,352 10,526 6,835 1,159 3,619 5,297 4,762 5,169 3,921 4,591 1,766 2,771 2,456 1,611 3,097 2,066 2,614 2,556 1,181 1,160 [-576] [ - 306] [-591] 7,866 5,645 63 3,417 3,651 4,573 5,533 3,178 4,025 3,463 3,459 2,362 [-406] 4,653 [-1,045] 6,279 1,676 1,566 1,678 [-2,391] [-511] 2,448 7,546 7,558 1,197 1,887 3,664 5,284 5,670 2,410 4,900 4,471 3,266 1,258 2,426 2,012 [-455] 4,875 3,398 2,123 1,811 [-6921 [-1,320] 1,431 * P. fF the " we Vom 1877 to If 'ram 1877 to If Drking " averai 193 (inclusive) the " t-trict" average is gi 1 !94 (inclusive) the increase on the "stri ■en, and f< ;t" averfci >r subseque: »e is given, it years the ind for sub: " working' sequent yea average. its that on