5

E.—2

The efficiency of the schools as gauged by the annual examination of them varied considerably. There are some in which one can find grounds for much The explanation lies, I; think, in the fact that the teachers, still clinging to their old methods, have not moved along with the times in the direction of increased development, and are consequently left with their schools in the position which they occupied yoars ago. There is, however, an increased efficiency in the other schools which should give every satisfaction to the Department. In these schools, with one exception, handwork finds a place on the time-table, and at one there was some modelling in plasticine which was of a very high order indeed. Reference to the work done in the workshops, of which there are three in this district, will be found in a subsequent paragraph. Group 111. — Bay of Islands, Whangarei, and Kaipara. The following schools are comprised in this group Ohaeawai, Te Ahuahu, Oromahoe, Taumarere, Karetu, Whangaruru, Poroti, Takahiwai, Otamatea, and Te Rawhiti. All these schools were inspected and examined in the early part of the year with exception of Te Rawhiti, which was opened in July. The these schools has been very good on the whole. There is not so much dearth of food amongst the people of these districts, and, moreover, nearly all of them are in proximity to civilisation, which brings with it facilities for getting food. It has been found necessary during the year to enlarge Oromahoe School, and newjschools are asked for at Tauroto and Orauta. In at least half of the schools of this group the junior classes were unusually weak in reading. No child should be presented for Standard I. until he has thoroughly mastered the Native School Primer. In other respects the results of the examinations were generally satisfactory, there being only one school in which the methods of teaching and school tone could be considered unsatisfactory. Group IV.—Thames, Hot Lakes,. Waikato, and King Country. The following are the schools comprised : Manaia (Coromandel), Te Kerepehi, Rakaumanga, Raorao, Parawera, Te Kopua, Te Kuiti, Hauaroa, Te Waotu, Ranana, Whakarewarewa, Waiotapu, Awangararanui. Of these, Raorao was closed during the year, and Awangararanui at the end of the year. The attendance at both was very unsatisfactory, and at the latter place fell away very considerably. At the other schools the attendance has been very good indeed, necessitating, at Whakarewarewa, increased accommodation. The school at Te Kuiti is also very much overcrowded, but an agitation has been on foot for the transfer of the school to the Auckland Education Board. • Some of the new schools in this group are doing exceptionally well, and the work in nearly all the others was of a very satisfactory nature. The enunciation in reading of the children in Whakarewarewa School was exceedingly good, and shows how well Maori children can enunciate after being thoroughly grounded in the powers of the letters. The new school at Parawera is making excellent progress. During the year the schools near Rotorua were visited by Mr. Frank Tate, Director of Education, Victoria. Mr. Tate expressed a very high appreciation of the work that he saw in these particular schools. Group V. — Tuhoe or Urewera District. The Tuhoe schools are : Te Houhi, Te Whaiti, Te Teko, Ruatoki, Waimana. This district may be regarded as the outermost region of Maoridom, and the work of the teacher here has exceptional difficulties. The people are for the most part poor, and the food and clothing of the children are of the scantiest description. In addition to this the tohunga still holds full sway here, and the people cling to the Te Kooti religion. At the same time they show an appreciation of their schools : some of the children are " boarded out " with relatives so that they may attend. The dancing of pois and hakas which took place during the year had a very unsettling effect on the children. The people even entertained the idea of taking a troupe round Australasia. The three last-named schools are on the whole very successful, and at one of them (Te Teko) the reading was nothing short of excellent. In the other schools, however, there was apparently an undue haste in promotion in the lowest classes, and the examination results were very much below the usual standard. Handwork was taught successfully in three of these schools, but not much progress had been made in woodwork. It struck me that laundry-work would be a very useful branch of instruction to introduce here. The difficulty would be to get over the aversion of the people to the use of hot water, which is against their religious principles. Ruatoki School has now on the roll the largest number of children of all of the Native schools, and has had to be considerably enlarged to accommodate them all. A new school is applied for at Matatua, in Ruatahuna District, and a visit here disclosed the fact that there are many children in the place, all living in the most primitive state, and forming excellent specimens of the raw material. Group Vl. — Western Bay of Plenty. Te Kotukutuku, Paeroa, Papamoa, Te Matai, Matata, Otamauru, Poroporo, are the schools in this group. The attendance at most of these has shown a very pleasing increase during the year. Especially has this been the case at the first three schools : Paeroa School has been enlarged to provide accommodation for all the children by the addition to it of the disused buildings of Judea (Huria). The people of the district are fairly well-to-do and can easily get work in the maize-fields, or at the flax-mills, the latter often taking away children who ought to be attending school.