E.—2

Maori Children receiving Primary Education. \ th m, end ° f 1 1 911 there were 4 6 85 Maori chil dren receiving instruction in public schools. The total number of Maoris under instruction in all primary schools was . as follows:— r J At Native village schools .. .. ~ _ 4 q 3 q At Native mission schools .. .. . _ ' oqa At public schools .. .. .. _ _ " . „o* Total •• •• •• •• •• .. .. 8,954 This number does not include Maoris attending schools not under inspection or private schools subject to inspection ; of these no separate return is made. The classification of Maori children attending Native village schools will be found in the Native Schools' Report, E.-3. The following table shows the age' sex, and classification of the Maoris attending public schools :—

Table Ca.—Maori Scholars attending Public Schools at the end of December Quarter, 1911.

Average Age of Maori Pupils in Various Classes. A Yrs ag6 mo g 3 !' Av v erage A S e - P 8 2 Class S4 .. To' To' » S1 10 4 „ 55.. ..' " •• i 3 7 » S3 12 0 „ S7 15 0 v * N,B Tw° r f* P^ r t° SeS - ° f tMs , leturn ' half " caste chil dren and children intermediate in blood between halt-caste and Maori are reckoned as Maori. Number to whom has been granted a certificate of proficiency .. 29 competency in S6 .. 5 Total ~ Number of schools at which Maori scholars were in attendance, 551. In the above table it is a matter of comment that so few Maori scholars reached the higher standards. A comparison between this table and that for Native schools will at once show that Native schools compare much better in this respect. The reason, no doubt, is that in a school where there are only one or two Maori children among a hundred or more Europeans the education of a Maori is apt to be left to take care of itself. Again, if the above table is compared with Table B appearing on page 4, it will be noticed that over a third of the pupils of, say, twelve years and upwards m preparatory classes and Standard I are Maoris. While this is no doubt due in part to the fault referred to above, it is also to a great extent accountable by the fact that many Maoris, living in remote districts, never enter the walls of a school until they are ten or eleven years of age, or even older.

8

Class P. 81. 82. S3. 84. SO. 86. 87. Total. Years. I pq 3 & 3 pq | * co to o 5 pq o & 3 pq a i * O .CH pq a O r-% tH '5 o pq Ll? 3 o m 4 s i, o pq oi M 3 5 and under 6 .. 6 „ 7 .. 7 „ 8 .. 8 „ 9 .. 9 „ 10 .. 10 „ 11 .. 11 „ 12 .. 12 „ 13 .. 13 „ 14 .. 14 „ 15 .. 15 and over I .. I .. 169 274 325 257 158 114 82 26 21 11 4 122 230 283 226 147 98 91 20 24 4 .... : 2 : 2 3 12 ; 47 40 I 74 ! 66 ! 97 55 51 50 38 39 17 19 11 5 2340 290 13 40 65 77 52 41 9 1 3 8 47 63 54 44 25 2 2 15 36 60 60 47 9 5 1 7 28 50 29 24 6 3 2 4 20 41 30 23 6 2 7 19 33 27 12 7 .. I .. ■i :: 169 276 328 317 290 316 295 236 193 105 43 122 232 298 275 269 251 268 180 144 51 27 '5 '3 17 14 31 16 22 14 11 9 87 56 2 6 18 13 1 1 8 8 2 i 2 3 2 Totals 1,441 1,245 298 248 232 148 126 107 39 20 3 2,568 2,117 5