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tained in the Victorian School for the Deaf, at a cost of £100 ; and one child was under the charge of a private teacher in Auckland, to whom a fee of £20 was paid by the Department. None of these three pupils returned for instruction after the Christmas holidays. Mr. Gerit van Asch, who has occupied the position of Director of the institution since its establishment in 1880, retired on the 31st March last, and received the thanks of the Government for his faithful and valuable service. Institute for the Blind. The Jubilee Institute for the Blind, at Auckland, is a private institution, and not in any way under Government control. Being, however, a " separate institution " under the Hospitals and Charitable Institutions Acts it receives a subsidy at the rate of 245. in the pound upon the voluntary contributions raised by the Trustees, and, in addition, payment is made to it by the Education Department on account of pupils for whose tuition the Department is responsible. The Trustees have received at various times other grants in aid of buildings. The total amount paid on account of Government pupils during the year 1905 was £566 ss. 4d. The Department" also paid £21 for the separate tuition of a pupil in Christchurch, and £6 Is. 4d. for travel-ling-expenses of an indigent pupil to the Institute ; £101 2s. Id. was recovered from parents and others. The number r of Government pupils at the end of 1904 was 24 ; sof these left during the year 1905, and 5 were admitted ; the number of such pupils at the close of the last year was accordingly 24. Native Schools. The number of Maori village schools in operation at the end of 1904 was 100. In 1905 three schools were opened, two were transferred to Education Boards, four were closed, and two were given up by the Department. There were thus ninetyfive schools .in working-order at the end of 1905. The number of children on the rolls of these schools at the 31st December, 1905, was 3,863, as against 3,754 at the end of the preceding year. The number of children is thus increased by 109, while there are five schools fewer in operation. The average attendance for the whole year 1905 was 3,428, an increase of 344 on that of the preceding year. The regularity of the attendance has increased from 81 to 84 per cent., which is very little behind the average attendance at the public schools of the colony. This is all the more satisfactory when it is considered that none of the Maori schools are town schools. In addition to the village schools, there are now six mission schools that are usually inspected and examined by the Department, two schools of this kind having been established during the year. There are also six boarding-schools established by the authorities of various Churches in New Zealand ; these form the only means available of affording higher education specially for Maori boys and girls. The total number of Native schools open at the end of 1905 was thus 107. European children attending Maori schools are provided for in the matter of higher education by the provisions of the regulations concerning free places in secondary schools, and admission has already been granted to candidates who have gained in Native schools the necessary qualifications. Three new schools—Oruanui and Waitahanui, in Taupo district, and Mangaorongo, in the King-country—were opened during the year, the first two with considerable success. There is still some difficulty in procuring candidates who possess the qualifications desirable in the case of Native-school teachers, and, for this reason, the school built at Waimarama, Hawke's Bay, could not be opened until some time had elapsed after its completion. The schools at Papawai and Te Kuiti were, at the request of the people interested, handed over, the former to the Wellington and the latter to the Auckland Board of Education. The school at Te Houhi had to be abandoned owing to the departure of the Maoris consequent upon the resumption of their lands by the legal owner, while Awangararanui, Raorao, and Pariroa Schools were closed owing to the attendance falling below the number required.