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E.—2

that it understands that step thoroughly. (2.) That complete mastery of work done shall be habitually held to be of first-class importance, especially at the beginning, and that fluency and abundance shall rank next to accuracy. (3.) That everything said by teacher and by pupil shall be in idiomatic English sentences, and that no answer shall be considered correct and done with for the time unless it is quite complete. This rule is rather tiresome at first, but children get used to it soon, and it is highly useful and salutary. Secondary Education for Maoris, and some of its Resultant difficult Problems. It is the latter rather than the former part of the subject that will be considered in this section ; but to treat even this fully, within the limits of the space at our disposal, would be impossible. It may perhaps be hoped, however, that some useful material will be provided for the use of those who will hereafter have to deal with the problems referred to. Some of the features of Maori secondary education are of a delicate as well as difficult nature. It is therefore desirable to state that the pupils dealt with in this paper are only those educated with Government assistance ; it would be both impertinent and futile to remark on work done by private institutions for private scholars, and for ends that the Department has never undertaken to concern itself with. The difficulty of the task lies in the fact that it is impossible to treat Government education of Maoris usefully without making remarks that apply to all Maori education ; this, though unavoidable, is nowhere intended. I. A very brief statement with regard to the Department's resources available for the work of forwarding secondary Maori education will serve the present purpose. There are, then, four institutions that educate boys or girls sent to them from our village schools on passing the Fourth or a higher standard. This is, perhaps, the proper place to correct an error fallen into some time ago at a meeting held in the South in order to make known the necessity for, and to collect money to be used in establishing, a higher school for Maori girls at Auckland—a very laudable object. On the whole, far too little credit was given at this meeting to two excellent establishments—boarding schools for girls —in Napier, which had long been in existence ; in fact, any one listening to the speaker referred to would have been almost justified in inferring that there were no Maori boardingschools of any importance in the colony except Te Aute. On the same occasion another misleading impression might readily have been received from the remarks made by the same speaker: these were to the effect that the Native village schools do not take pupils beyond Standard IV., when in fact they bring them up to Standard VI., and these pupils will compare, not unfavourably, with average Sixth Standard children from public schools of similar size, provided that some allowance be made for the fact that the examination is conducted in a language other than the mothertongue of the Maori school children. There is no need to make very much of these small matters : perhaps it is only natural that one should let himself go a little when he feels that he has a thoroughly good cause in hand, and wants to do his very best for it. Perhaps, too, it is just as natural that those who observe mistakes of the kind referred to, and are interested in having the exact truth stated, should wish to see them corrected. Returning from this digression, we may say that of the four schools now receiving Standard IV. scholars from Government schools, two, Te Aute College and St. Stephen's, take boys who have passed the Fourth Standard at village schools, if they are in good health and their parents elect to send them. Parents have hitherto had two other courses open to them besides the obvious one of removing their children from school altogether : They have for many years been given the privilege of leaving their children at school to work for Standards V. and VI., if it has been their wish to do so ; or, in suitable cases, they have been allowed to apprentice their children to trades, under Government supervision. The weak spot in this latter plan is that it is rather difficult to make the supervision thoroughly effective, or to be sure that the object sought is, in a majority of cases, thoroughly secured. For the girls the available schools are St. Joseph's, Napier; and Hukarere, in the same town. The reference just made to the boys' schools holds also in the case of that for girls; Standard IV. girls from Government schools are sent to these two institutions, or they may remain at village schools and pass Standards V. and VI. ; or they may consider their education finished. With regard to the nature of secondary education given at these schools it may be said that the tendency at St. Stephen's is to go in for what is called by "Philistines" a sound English education, and this is done with excellent effect. The boys who remain to see the thing out really do it in a very creditable fashion, and their work is sound and good. During their course they also do much technical and industrial work, and it is pleasing to be able to report that St. Stephen's is just now making a further advance in the same direction. Te Aute takes up rather the lines of the English grammar school, so far as may be. Boys at that institution are skilfully prepared for the matriculation examination, and many of them now succeed in passing it. Both of these schools may fairly be called very good. With regard to the girls' schools, it may be said that Hukarere follows Te Aute in the main, and quite creditably, but it is naturally a very considerable distance behind it, so far as the upper classes are concerned. St. Joseph's does much sound work, and in some respects reminds us of St. Stephen's. It is, I believe, uncertain what relation, if any, there will be between the Victoria Girls' School at Auckland and our Government scholars; but it is not improbable that some of our village pupils will, in one way or another, find their way to that school after finishing their primary course. It should be added that there are novv scholarships for pupils belonging to the Maori race who are attending public schools.