E.—3

12

that have been obtained through the operations of the schools, it is to be found in the magnificent efforts the people as a whole have made in response to appeals for patriotic purposes, and in the number of young men who have answered the call of the Empire. Concluding Remarks. The Native village school, as has been pointed out in previous reports, constitutes an essential feature of human life in a Maori settlement, and there is abundant evidence that the schools exercise a potent influence in the gradual upl.fting of the race. Those who are connected with the work of educating the Maori are in a position to appreciate the difficulties of the tasks confronting the teachers, and the many disappointments they experience in their work, and consequently the opinion expressed in some quarters that Native-school work has nothing special in its character, may be dismissed as the outcome of a lack of knowledge of the problem. During the past year the very satisfactory standard of efficiency of the schools has been well maintained, and from various sources high appreciation of the work done in Native schools has been expressed. The teachers, apart from their ordinary duties, perform valuable work in the community in which they live, and when it is borne in mind that they are situated in some of the most remote and isolated parts of the Dominion, and their work is carried on often under great disadvantages, it is only right and proper that appreciation of their services should be thus recorded. Jno. Porteous, The Director of Education. Inspector of Native Schools.

No. 3. EXTRACTS FROM THE REPORTS OF THE INSPECTORS OF SCHOOLS ON THE EDUCATION OF MAORIS ATTENDING PUBLIC SCHOOLS. Auckland. The progress of these pupils varies from good to unsatisfactory, the factors determining its quality, as in the case of other pupils, being mainly the personality and efficiency of the teacher. A large number of the Native children, however, live in remote localities where they are frequently compelled to attend schools staffed by inexperienced and often inefficient teachers. Under these circumstances work is backward and progress unsatisfactory. Where conditions are more favourable the pupils concerned respond readily to teaching influence and show pleasing knowledge of programmes studied and gratifying appreciation of methods employed. Briefly, under uniformly favourable conditions there is much to indicate that the Maori could and would rise to be a distinct credit to our efforts and system. There are still serious difficulties to contend with in the matter of training these children, amongst which may be mentioned those arising from irregularity of attendance, imperfect knowledge of spoken English, and inability, real or assumed, to provide suitable class-books.. These matters were referred to in our report for last year, and continue to demand attention. With regard to the subjects of instruction and the progress made therein, much that we have already said in our annual report applies; the following additional remarks have special reference to the pupils we are considering. The English subjects present the same difficulties as heretofore. Reading shows improvement in those schools where a combination of the "look and say" and phonic methods is adopted, and where variety of reading-matter is provided. This is specially noticeable in the lower classes, where the continuous reading-book is arousing interest and to no small-extent is assisting the teacher. The upper classes find greater difficulty with the subject-matter of lessons than do the lower classes, but few of the pupils in the former being able to reproduce with reasonable fullness and accuracy the meaning of much of what they have been reading. Composition: Here again the chief obstacle is the grammar and structure of the language in which the pupil is compelled to express his thoughts, and the precise meaning of the words he is forced to employ, to which may be added the limited range of interests comprising his environment and the paucity of ideas on all but the most simple subjects. We cannot detect any improvement on former results. Spelling is another difficult subject for Maori pupils, who experience considerable trouble in mastering the sound-values of our alphabet, so that it is an uncommon experience to find a Maori pupil who is able to express himself in writing with reasonable fullness without an unduly large number of mistakes in spelling. Writing, as a rule, is a strong feature, as also is drawing. In the case of recitation the pieces chosen are generally all accurately committed to memory, but the meaning of much of the text is frequently not understood.