E.—2

22

A.—Further Details of Staffs, Salaries, and Attendance.

[I. REPORT OF THE INSPECTOR-GENERAL OF SCHOOLS. The Inspkctor-Genkran of Schools to the Hon. the Minister of Education. Sir,— In my report lust year I drew attention to the marked increase in recent years in the proportion of pupils in the preparatory classes, and suggested four possible causes which might account for this increase :— (1.) There may have been an increase in the proportion of young children, say, between five and eight years of age, in the population of the Dominion during the period in question. (2.) A larger proportion of children may be entering the schools between ages of five and seven than formerly. (3.) A certain proportion of children may be leaving school from the upper classes at an earlier age to go to secondary schools or day technical schools, or to go to work ; this would make the numbers in the lower classes appear relatively larger. (4.) The children may be spending a longer time in the infant or preparatory classes than they formerly spent. The following table shows the percentages of the roll of public schools (a) in the preparatory classes, and (b) of ages five to seven inclusive : — Percentage of the roll of public schools in the P. i!H»r>. 1906. IlioT. 1908. 1909, 1010. classes .. .. .. •• •• 28-3 294 311 34-3 36-7 37-2 Percentage of the roll of age over five but not over eight .. .. •• •• •• 298 30-0 30-1 30-5 311 311 It will be seen that during the past year the percentage of children of ages five to seven remained stationary, whereas the marked increase already pointed out in the percentage of children in preparatory classes is going on. If we examine each of the four causes above mentioned separately we get the following results : (1.) There has been a decrease in the proportion of young children in the population between the ages of five and eight. In 1905 the proportion of such children in the European population was 6*184 per cent; in 1910 it was 5-891. (2.) An examination of Table A will show that between the years 1905-10 there was a general increase in the percentages of young children five to eight years of age entering the public schools. The percentage of girls of seven to eight years of age slightly decreased ; and the largest increase is shown in the children of six to seven years of age. The average increase is about 3$ per cent. (Dining the year 1910 the percentage of the population between five and eighi years of age attending public schools actually decreased.) (3.) With regard to the suggestion that pupils of the upper classes are leaving school at an earlier age than formerly, a glance at the fourth and fifth lines of Table B will show that this is not the case : on the contrary, the percentage of both boys and girls attending these classes, especially the latter. has increased to a greater extent than that of the corresponding number of children in the Dominion. (4.) That the children are spending a longer time than formerly in the preparatory classes is .suggested by the fact that in the last five years the average age of children in Standard I classes has increased from eight years and eleven months to nine years and two months.

Attendance. School. .Names of Teachers. Sularipa it Fnil Allowance for m I?Qin Conveyance of Mean of Average Mean of Weekly 01 ""'■ Goods. Attendance for KoU Number for Four Quarters of Four Quarter! of 1910. 1910. i !_ Pβ One .. J itl Island I'e Roto .. Matarakaii Guest, J. J. Guest, Mrs. L. R. Ritchie, Mias F. Lanauze, Miss G. Hutohinson, J . .. Silcock, H. S. .. Houjrh, Miss E. £ s. <I. £ H.M. 205 0 0 25 37 43 S. 10 10 0 Pt. 5 55 0 0 Pt. 2 35 0 0 M. 90 0 0 : 15 12 13 M. 108 0 o 15 23 30 F. 90 0 0 9 9 Total 593 10 0 i 55 81 96 - - 81 96