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paratively few girls are able to do the work, which must therefore gradually die out. Indeed in many places it is practically a lost art. Carton and cardboard modelling are well done in many schools, but there are not a few schools where greater accuracy and neatness are desirable. If manual work does not receive all the care that can be bestowed on it, it is absolutely useless as a branch of school work. The object of the teacher should be not so much to produce a great quantity of work for exhibition, as to produce work of the highest quality. Workshops for the instruction of the Maori boys in carpentry are established at the following schools : Waikouaiti, Pamoana, Te Haroto, Rangitukia, Waimana, Rakaumanga, Omanaia, Mangamuka, and Whirinaki. With two exceptions, these may be regarded as doing highly successful work. Maori boys show a decided aptitude for handwork, and delight in carpentry. They are taught to make articles that will be of service to the people in the kainga, and in one or two schools the demand has been much greater than the supply. It is pleasing to note further that boys who have acquired some knowledge of the use of tools in our workshops afterwards have had little difficulty in obtaining work, and are well spoken of by their masters. With regard to the question of handwork and manual work in our schools, I think that if possible the Department should make some arrangements for giving instruction to girls in cookery and domestic economy. To do this it is not necessary to fit up elaborate kitchens, but simply to teach the girls the art of plain cooking with such appliances as the Maori possesses —the camp-oven, for instance. The knowledge thus acquired by the young Maori girl would afterwards be of the greatest service to her in her married life, especially in the matter of preparing food for babies and for sick persons, many of whom die simply for want of proper food. Higher Education. Reference to the tables attached to this report will show that, at the end of 1904, there were at the various secondary schools 262 Maori pupils. Of these 91 were Government scholars, 62 coming from Native village schools, and 29 having been nominated to fill vacancies by the authorities of the secondary schools ; the remainder were private pupils. These numbers are exclusive of Maori pupils formerly attending primary public schools, of whom there are seven receiving higher education at some secondary institution. For the former pupils the Government provides places as follows: Te Aute College, 10; St. Stephen's, Parnell, 30; Queen Victoria School for Girls, 20 ; Hukarere Girls', 20 ; St. Joseph's Girls', 33 ; and the new school for girls at Turakina, 5. It will be seen, therefore, that all the available places were not filled up. In the case of the girls, the demand for places at Queen Victoria Girls' School was greater than could be complied with. On the other hand, there were very few applicants from village schools for admission to the Napier institutions. It should be more generally understood that a scholar is expected to attend the nearest secondary school; that it is of no use for a girl living within easy reach of Hukarere, Napier, for instance, to expect to be sent to Victoria School, Auckland. The present method of selecting scholars for these secondary schools is now in need of revision. When one looks over the earlier reports on the work of Native schools, one can readily see that in the old days the difficulty was to find a sufficient number qualified for scholarships. But nowadays there are so many who pass Standard IV., and thus qualify, that were all to demand places in secondary schools, it would be impossible to find places for them. It is likely that a higher value would be set on the scholarships were they granted on the result of a special examination similar to that for the certificate of proficiency under the regulations for the examination of public schools. By this means, also, we should be able to send to the higher schools those who possess the highest qualifications, and who would be likely to derive more benefit from having received higher education than some of our pupils appear to do, for the conviction is growing strongly in me that higher education as now understood is of little or no benefit to many. As a case in point, I may mention that one of the first pupils to return from a recently established school for girls was at the time of my visit in charge of a billiardtable in the kainga. Many instances of a similiar nature have led me to the opinion that it would be an improvement on our present system could we establish in each district a continuation school, where the boys could devote their time to carpentry and agriculture, and the girls to domestic economy and practical housewifery. The pupils of these schools would receive their higher training under more natural conditions ; they would not be subject to that unsettling influence that two or three years' city life must have on them, and they would be able to apply the knowledge acquired in their daily life in the kainga. With reference to Maori students holding university scholarships, it will be seen from Table No. 11 that there is at present one studying medicine at Otago and one studying law at Auckland. The granting of a scholarship in law has not been done without some hesitation, but from the success achieved in this profession by a distinguished young Maori, once a scholar in a village school, and the good work he is doing for his race, there seems to be no reason why those youths who wish to study law should not be assisted to obtain the necessary training. Should a boy elect to be apprenticed to a trade, instead of proceeding to a secondary school as a Government scholar, the Department assists him as far as possible by making an allowance equal to the amount that would in the ordinary course be expended for his scholarship. At present there are in all four boys apprenticed to various trades, and all appear to be making thoroughly satisfactory progress. Last year I pointed out the difficulties which prevent the Department from making the system more extensive. Suitable openings for Maori boys are difficult to get, and those that are found are sought for by the teachers of the schools who are uniformly anxious to see their scholars succeed after their school life.