E.—3

The following table shows a steady increase in the attendance since 1912: —

There were on the roll on the Ist July, 1935, 6,898 Maori children (6,540 in 1934) and 954 European children (964 in 1934) making a total roll number at that date of 7,852 (7,504 in 1934). 3. Staff (31st December, 1935). Three hundred and thirty-eight teachers were employed, of whom 259 were certificated and 79 uncertificated. Of the total staff 33-7 per cent, were junior assistants, 74 of whom were fully qualified teachers, and 40 uncertificated. The percentage of head and class teachers holding certificates continues to increase, and is now 83 per cent., an increase of 4 per cent, for the year. At present twenty of the uncertificated junior assistants are Maori girls, who are giving very efficient service. 4. Buildings. During 1935, a new open-air school of three class-rooms, with generous cloak-room accommodation, was built at Waima, to replace the old school. At Whangaparaoa a new class-room, and two additional rooms to the residence were provided. Extensive remodelling of the Ahipara, Mangamuka, and Oruanui Native Schools was completed. At the Wharekahika Native School improvements were effected to both the school and residence and at Te Waotu Native School the residence was remodelled. In addition, the usual maintenance works were carried out. 5., Training of Teachers. During the years of financial depression many of the junior assistant positions, usually held by uncertificated Maori girls, were filled by the appointment of certificated European assistants. This augmentation of teaching-power proved very beneficial to the Native school service and assisted materially in the adoption of the new aims. Towards the end of 1935 a number of these trained teachers found more lucrative positions in public schools, and the vacancies so occasioned are again being filled by the appointment of carefully selected Maori girls. Provision will be made for the training of these Maori junior assistants, both in school method and academically, in order that they may qualify for entrance to the training colleges. Native school teachers in some districts continue to meet in study circles, and some demands were made upon the facilities afforded by the Education Department's library. Many teachers fail to realize the necessity for professional reading, and it is to be hoped that a greater number will subscribe to one or more educational periodicals. Without such a stimulus the danger of mental stagnation and professional deterioration is great. The Native schools column in the Education Gazette was maintained to a considerable extent by the contributions of teachers. 6. Grading of Schools. For 1935, schools have been graded with reference to efficiency as follows (the figures in parentheses indicate the 1934 grading) : Excellent, 3 (3) ; very good, 25 (24) ; good, 49 (40); very fair, 34 (40); fair, 21 (25); poor, 6 (6). 7. Libraries. Library facilities are, in most schools, inadequate, especially in regard to the provision of books of reference. A number of teachers have raised funds for the purchase of supplementary reading material, but such efforts to build up school libraries should be general and sustained, additions being made at least annually. The library should be an intimate concern of the children, who should be trained in its management, co-operate in raising funds for its enlargement, and be consulted in regard to the choice of new books. In most schools the library, instead of being an integral and necessary part of the school organization, is but a collection of additional class-room readers, often badly stored and classified. Owing to the paucity of reading material in many of the Maori homes and communities the need for the provision of adequate library facilities and for training in library management cannot be stressed too strongly. 8. Social and Community Life. This year the prestige and influence of the Native schools in their respective communities have increased. In addition to the social services traditionally rendered—care of the sick, supply of medicines, assistance to parents in all kinds of matters—the revised curriculum, in stressing practical education and in relating it to the requirements of home and farm, has attracted the interests of the parents, and is making a direct contribution to better

2

Year. Roll Number at 31st ATW age Attendance. Average Weekly December. & Attendance. 1912 .. .. .. .. 4,694 4,042 4,644 1917 .. .. .. 5,173 4,507 5,191 1922 .. .. .. .. 6,161 5,436 6.119 1927 .. .. .. .. 6,620 5,816 6,655 1932 .. .. .. ., 7,313 6,848 7,524 1934 .. .. .. .. 7,587 6,799 7,523 1935 .. .. .. .. 7,876 7,098 7,816