5

E.-J

Zealand, Wellington (896) being highest in the North Island. There is no reason, however, why the standard should not be higher still. In this connection it is worthy of note that several Education Boards call attention to a practice that seems to be growing vp —some parents, relying on the fact that the law inflicts no penalty unless a child is absent without reasonable excuse at least three half-days out of ten, keep their children from school one day a week. The existence of this evil was mentioned in a previous report, and there is no doubt that the time has now come, in the interests of the children and the State, to amend the Act so as to provide that every child must attend school whenever it is open, unless some reasonable ground for exemption can be shown. The districts having the lowest average are North Canterbury, 86; Grey, 86 - 7; Wanganui, 868; Taranaki, 86 - 9; Nelson, 869. It is a matter for congratulation that the North Island has now attained the same high standard of regular attendance reached by the South Island, the ratio of total average attendance to total average roll being the same. In this connection the following figures are interesting : — Attendance per Cent, of Roll. North Island. South Island. 1907 83-7 85-6 1908 ... ... ... ... 86-7 876 1909 ... ... ... ... 87-8 87-8 The average daily attendance, in actual numbers and as a percentage of the average weekly roll-number, for each quarter of the years 1908 and 1909 was as follows:— Actual Attendance. Per Cent, of Roll. 1908. 1909. 1908. 1909. First quarter ... ... ... 125,288 131,438 86-9 87-9 Second quarter ... ... ... 126,597 131,837 872 87-7 Third quarter ... ... ... 126,581 132,376 86-7 87-4 Fourth quarter ... ... ... 130,175 135,442 87-7 88-2 Whole year 127,160 132,773 871 87-8 If to these numbers we add the average numbers in attendance at Native schools and at the schools in the Chatham Islands, we find the total average attendance at all public primary schools for the years 1908 and .1909 in the Dominion to have been as follows : — 1908. 1909. Public schools ... ... ... ... ... 127,160 132,773 Native schools ... ... ... ... ... 3,781 3,680 Chatham Islands schools ... ... ... ... 72 £o] 91 Total ... ... ... 131,013 136,544 Age and Sex of l J ayih. Table C shows the age and sex of the pupils on the rolls of the public schools of the Dominion at the end of 1909, and the percentage of the roll for

each age.

TABLE C.—Age and Sex of Pupils, December, 1909.

Age. —Of the children in the public schools, 53*8 per cent, are under ten, and 46 - 2 are over that age ; the corresponding percentages for 1908 were 52 - 8 and 47*2. The proportion of children under ten continues, as in past years, to show

Ages. Boys. Girls. ' Total. Percentages for Five Years. 5 and under 6 years .. 6 „ „ 7 „ 7 „ „ 8 „ 8 . „ 9 „ 9 ,. „ 10 . 10 . „ 11- „ 11 „ , 12 „ 12 „ „ 13 „ 13 „ „ 14 „ 14 . . 15 . 7,074 , 6,166 13,240 8,602 7,889 16,491 9,243 8,504 17,747 8,991 8,331 17,322 8,902 8,278 17,180 8,540 7,762 16,302 8,391 7,739 16,130 8,061 7,438 15,499 6,913 6,087 13,000 3,696 2,893 6,589 1IKJ5. 81 10-3 11-4 115 11-5 11-3 11-2 10-6 8-3 3-9 I9U6. 1907. I'.flis. 8-8 8-0 8-2 10-6 10-5 106 11-1 11-6 11-7 11-5 11-1 11-3 11-4 11-4 110 11-4 11-3 11-2 111 11-0 10-9 10-5 105 10-4 8-3 8-7 8-4 40 40 4-2 1909. 8-7 10-8 11-6 11-4 11-2 107 106 10-2 8-5 4-3 15 and over 78,413 71,087 1149,500 1,574 1,342 2,916 98-1 1-9 98-2 1-8 98-1 1-9 97 9 2-1 98-0 2-0 Totals .. .. 79,987 72,429 152,416 79,987 72,429 152,416 1000 1000 1000 1000 1000 _J I I