E.—2

25

S6 is 4 years 10 months, and it was the same in 1905. It is further argued that 4n a large class the dull pupils retard the progress of the bright ones ; also that the secondary schools are existing for the comparative few, and that these should not .be considered when the well-being of the majority, who leave school after passing the Sixth Standard, is at stake. To such objections I must answer that it is unfair and disheartening to clever and ambitious scholars to be thus retarded, and that at the least their promotion need not affect those who are not so well favoured intellectually. The proportion of pupils proceeding to the secondary schools is now, moreover, very considerable. I would not for one moment be understood to urge that " formal" work, especially in arithmetic, and to a lesser extent in reading, should be undertaken by pupils at too early an age ; but children in preparatory classes are never too young to receive systematic training in language, especially by means of stories told to or by them, or by the description in their own words of facts coming naturally within their observation. It is obvious that the ordinary Infant Reader is much below the capacity of the average pupil of eight or nine years of age ; he should be promoted to a class where he will have reading-matter more suited to his tastes, and consequently to his powers. lam aware that in New Zealand the newer methods of instruction in infant classes are held by many to entail the spending of a longer time in those classes ; but in countries where such methods have been long in vogue it has not been found necessary to keep pupils so long in preparatory classes. If the newer methods were applied more fully in the standard classes, as they should be, this argument would lose its weight altogether. It is above all, in my opinion, a matter for very serious consideration whether the stage of teaching that may be admirably suited to children of five to seven years of age is really suitable for children of eight or nine, who are rapidly developing new powers of mind. The whole question is one which leaves room for considerable diversity of opinion, according to the various ideas that may be held as to the respective " spheres of influence " of primary schools on the one hand, and secondary and technical schools on the other. 2. Leakage of Pupils between S4 and S6. Several Inspectors* have commented on the fact that an unduly large percentage of children leave school before reaching the standard of exemption ; and the matter is sufficiently serious to demand a close examination of the figures for the Dominion as a whole. The following table shows the percentages of pupils who left school without passing Standards IV, V, and VI respectively. To assure greater accuracy, an average has in each case been taken of the figures for at least three years.

In other words, 56 per cent, of the boys and 55 per cent, of the girls leave school without passing Standard VI; 44 per cent, of the boys and 42 per cent, of the girls leave without passing Standard V ; and 14 per cent, of the boys and 13 per cent, of the girls leave without passing Standard IV. In the above calculations no allowance has been made for failures or for excess of arrivals over departures ; but the necessary adjustment has been made for deaths.

* See Appendix C, pages viii, xxiii, and li.

4—E. 2.

Per !ent. 1905-8. 190S Ml. — Boys. Girls. Boys. Girls. Left without passing Standard IV .. Passed Standard IV, but not Standard V Passed Standard V, but not Standard VI Passed Standard VI 12 11 25 23 17 19 46 47 14 30 12 44 13 29 13 45 100 i 100 100 100