E.—l.

PRIMARY EDUCATION. Number op Public Schools. (Tables Al and 13,'! in E.-2.) The number of public schools open at the end of 1922 was 2,550, or fifty-two more than in the previous year. In the following table the schools are classified according to the yearly average attendance, and the total number of children at the schools in each grade is shown.

Total, 1922 .. . . .. .. 2,550 schools „ 1921 .. .. .. .. 2,498 Increase . . .. .. 52 „ The increase in the number of schools took place in the low grades, there being eighty-one more schools in Grades 0 and I (1-20 pupils) than in the previous year, and a reduction of twenty-nine in the number of larger schools. Of the whole 2,550 schools, it will be observed that 987 had average attendances ranging from 1 to 20, and 2,084 had averages ranging from 1 to 80, so that the proportion of comparatively small schools is very great. Of a total of 190,000 children, 26,000 are in sole-teacher schools with an attendance not exceeding 35, and 70,000 are in schools with an average attendance exceeding 400. Public-school Buildings. The following table shows the expenditure, &c, in connection with publicschool buildings during the last eight years : —

The increased amount voted for buildings during the year 1922-23 enabled a larger number of new and previous applications to be dealt with, the grants approved showing an increase of £140,196 on those for the previous year. Of the £212,811 approved as special grants the sum of £100,527 had reference to what may be termed ' rural schools " —that is, to schools other than those in the four large cities with their suburbs, and such centres as Hamilton, Napier, Hastings, New Plymouth,

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Grade of School. Num tier of Schools. Total Average Attendance. Grade of School. Number Total of Average Schools. Attendance. I 0 (1-8) 1 (9-20) II (21-35) IIIa (36-80) IIIb (81-120) IVa (121-160) IVb (161-200) IVc (201-240) Va (241-280) Vb (281-320) Vc (321-360) Vd (361-400) VIA (401-440) 232 755 529 568 133 50 40 28 25 24 34 11 15 1,292 11,011 14,411 30,322 13,184 7,029 7,322 6,490 6,646 7,595 11,684 4,805 6,584 VIb (441-480) VIIa (481-520) VIIb (521-560) VIIc (561-600) VIId (601-640) VIIe (641-680) VIIf (681-720) Vila (721-760) Villi (761-800) VIIi (801-840) VIIj (841-880) VIIk (881-920) VIIl (921-960) i 12 15 13 17 14 14 8 6 1 3 1 2 5.257 7,465 7,184 9,317 8,762 9,226 5,758 4,434 763 2.455 854 1,777

Financial Year. Applications Special Grants received. approved. J Expenditure on New Buildings for Public Schools. 1913-14 1916-17 1917-18 1918-19 1919-20 1920-21 1921-22 1922-23 £ £ £ 69,123 43,790 47,106 80,780 109,981 279,476 328,228 184,674 95,849 36.973 129,202 66,750 238,817 124,162 496,153 319,225 790,296 380,977 152,335 72,615 394,941 212,811