m^s,

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children are in most schools encouraged to model in plasticine from the natural form ; they bring their own. specimens and produce very faithful models. In one or two of the schools the teachers have encouraged the making of articles, such as kits and mats, from lacebark and other materials which the children have themselves prepared. This work is included under " Handwork," and may serve to teach the children not to forget altogether the arts of their parents. Last year there were eight workshops attached to village schools. Of these, six were established at the expense of the Government; the other two were provided mostly through the efforts of the teacher. During the present year a new plan has been tried, and so far it has proved very successful. The best example was set by the people of Oruanui, near Taupo. They themselves provided the workshop, the Department finding the tools only. And special credit attaches to the people referred to, inasmuch as it was necessary for them to hew down trees, split them, and prepare them—a laborious undertaking. This example was subsequently followed in other places. At Takahiwai, on Whangarei Harbour, the people—men, women, and children all doing their share—laboured for two days in the gum-swamp near by and devoted their winnings to the workshop. At Pukepoto and Whangape the Committee and the people also provided the building, wliile at Te Kaha they lent all the necessary assistance. The result is that there are now fourteen workshops, of which five have been established on the " self-help " policy at a cost to the Government of the price of the tools. It is on thess lines that future development should proceed. The workshops are doing good work, though there are one or two that have not yet proved to he so successful as was anticipated. The articles that are made are such as will be of use in the kainga : the Department looks at the practical side as well as, or even more than, the purely educational side. In this respect the point of view differs from that in the case of public schools where the training is the ultimate end. The Maori wants the thing made as well, and hence it is desirable that even adults, whose habits may be fairly regarded as formed, may, if they choose, come to share in the instruction given in the workshop. I am again pleased to report that boys who have had a preliminary training in our villageschool workshops have subsequently succeeded in finding places as apprentices. I must impress upon the teachers in charge of workshops the necessity of training the pupils to take proper care of the tools in their charge. " Lightly come, lightly go," is a saying that well describes the habits of some young Maoris. And not the least important part of the training a boy should get at school is that of taking care of things—other people's as well as his own. A beginning has been made in two schools this year to impart the principles of plain cooking and domestic economy to the elder girls. It is true that the scheme is at present a very crude one. It consists in the girls being taught the very commonest forms under conditions similar to those that obtain in nearly every Maori kainga, and with similar appliances. Hence it has been arranged that girls shall get experience in cooking with the camp-oven as well as with the range in the master's house. Should the experiment prove a success, I hope to be able to extend the system so that the new generation of Maoris shall know at least how to cook bread—an art in which, from the specimens I have occasionally seen, all Maoris are not particularly gifted. Indeed, when one considers the fact that in the real Maori districts all the "bread" has to be made, and bread and tea form the staple food of many of the children, the need for good bread can be easily understood. There can be little doubt that many Maoris, both children and adults, die from want of proper food and from ignorance of the preparation of food suitable for invalids, and the training of girls in cooking plain food with simple contrivances, and with the maximum of cleanlines, is certain in time to produce beneficial results. Higher Education. Higher education is provided for Maori boys and girls in six institutions, which are, it must be remembered, not established by the Government, but by various religious bodies. They provide, however, the only means of higher education for Maoris at present, at any rate. The Government provides places at these institutions in the following numbers : Te Aute College, Hawke's Bay, 10; St. Stephen's, Auckland, 30 ; Queen Victoria School for Girls, 20 ; Hukarere Girls', 20 ; St. Joseph's Girls', 33 ; and Turakina Girls', 10—an increase of five on last year's number. Eemarks on the examination work, &c, of these institutions appear elsewhere in this report. Last year the Department found it somewhat difficult to meet the demands by those qualified for free places in these schools. Especially was this the case with the girls. Though many more qualified for free places there has not been this year such a demand for places; and, indeed, all those available were not filled up until the authorities of the various colleges nominated some of their own pupils for the vacancies. - The Department has endeavoured, where there are several candidates, to choose the best qualified, and, especially in the case of the boys, those admitted to free places have passed one, and sometimes two, standards higher than that which they are supposed to pass in order to qualify; and, seeing that there are only forty places allotted to the boys attending our Native schools, it follows that there are more boys pass than free places can be found for. J In connection with the higher schools there are two matters that I think should not be passed over in this report. The first is that the authorities should not be too exacting in their demands upon the parents for clothing, pocket-money, &c, on account of the children. I know that in several cases girls have been prevented from going to a higher school because they have been unable to comply with the demands as to the necessary outfit, and in other cases girls have not completed their scholarships owing to the fact that the expense of the one year has been too great for the parents to bear another year. I feel certain that did the authorities know the history of each girl and the condition of life of her people they would moderate their demands accordingly. '--■ "Another point for consideration in this connection is the necessity of training the Maori youth in habits of thrift. Too much pocket-money and too much dress are likely to have a bad effect on