17

E.—lb

3—E. Ib.

The buildings or additions completed during the year are : Waipiro, on the East Coast; Te Karaka, at the terminus of the Poverty Bay Railway ; and Waipatiki, between Dannevirke and Weber. The buildings to be erected at Whatatutu and Port Awanui will supply long-felt wants, and I shall rejoice when something can be done for the benefit of the important Native settlement at Mohaka, where there are more than seventy children receiving instruction in a hired building 23 ft. by 16 ft. The opening of small schools containing half a dozen pupils is, in certain cases, of benefit to outlying settlers, but their establishment opens up new difficulties in the way of examination. Inspection rather than examination must be held to satisfy the conditions, as the time cannot be spared for the examination of three or four children qualified in the standard work. For example, it can hardly be expected of me to spend much time in the examination of the Motu district schools, where recently I had five pupils at one school, thirteen at another, and six at another. Five hardworking days were spent in carrying out this work ! School Attendance. —The school attendance for the year shows a fair improvement. The regularity for 1904 was 84 - 5 per cent, of the pupils entered as belonging to the schools, compared with 83-2 per cent, for the previous year. This improvement in the regularity of l - 3 per cent, for the year is satisfactory, considering the state of the country roads during the winter season and the long distances some pupils travel to and from school. It is a pity that some arrangement cannot be made by the Central Department by which a true comparison may be drawn between the school regularity in the several education districts. The plan adopted now does not enable this to be done. Were the actual number of pupils who are present in any one week taken as the basis for calculating the regularity of pupils, correct comparisons could be drawn as well between separate schools as education districts, but as the school roll is not " purged " by all teachers in the same way, a low apparent regularity when compared with the school roll may really be a high regularity when compared with the number of children who have actually attended school during a school week. In other words, the number of pupils present at school in any week should be taken as representing the school roll for the week. In quite a number of school districts, even under present conditions, the regularity of pupils is very high, some reaching as high as 96 per cent, of the roll-number. My own view is that efficiency and regularity are complementary to each other. Without the help of the police regularity at school will improve just as the tone and efficiency of a school improves. The very incoming of the police within the precincts of a school is contrary to the spirit of true education, and it is pleasing to find that without the Truant Officer and the policeman the school regularity continues to improve year by year. School Buildings.—The schoolhouses throughout the district are in very fair order. There are a few exceptions, but the expenditure for maintenance for the current year will be small, unless the Board decides to carry out the painting or distempering of some of the rooms in the larger centres. Several of the residences are barely habitable and require renewal. In one instance the master's furniture has been spoilt by the depredations of tl borer, and the residence should either be replaced or houseallowance granted. Accommodation.—Omitting the districts where the attendance is nominal, the accommodation supplied suffices for the several school districts, except at Gisborne and Woodlands Road, near Woodville. A new building is needed in the latter district, and the recent destruction of the school buildings at Gisborne necessitates their renewal as soon as possible. The latter town is growing rapidly, and as the population is scattered, it would be as well if the central school were limited to about six hundred pupils, and one or two smaller schools erected for the benefit of children in the more remote parts of the districts. Accommodation has to be provided at present]for over nine hundred children. ! School Gardens and Grounds. —There has been a steady advance in the number of children's gardens. School Committees appear to realise that neat school-grounds add to the attractiveness"pf a school, and efforts have certainly been made in quite a number of districts to make* the'public school a place where education can go on outside as well as inside the schoolroom. The neatly kept gardens are doing much to train and cultivate the tastes of children, and a storehouse for the fostering of " nature-study " among teachers and pupils. The following tabulation contains the number of pupils who were attending schools under the' Board at the time of my annual visit. The figures include all pupils belonging to the senior division in the four district high schools. These appear under Class 7, which also includes the Standard VII pupils from other than the district high schools : —

Classes. Number on Roll. Number For Corresponding Period, 1903. present at — Examination. Number on Roll. Numb f present. itandard VII. VI. V IV III. II I. 160 511 829 983 1,162 1,077 1,164 136 502 803 948 1,102 1,034 1,114 114 557 759 1,045 1,030 1,119 1,069 106 541 739 1,015 1,002 1,084 1,008 Total ... Preparatory pupils 5,886 2,795 5,639 2,494 5,693 2,682 5,495 2,254 Grand Totals 8,681 8,133 8,375 7,749 Catholic Schools ... 645 575 746 701