HUKARERE MAORI GIRLS’ SCHOOL.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XIV, Issue IX, 2 March 1895, Page 199

HUKARERE MAORI GIRLS’ SCHOOL.

THIS establishment, the only boarding school in New Zealand exclusively devoted to the education of Maori girls, was fonnded in 1875. It is situated on one of the many beautiful hills of Napier, and stands at a height of some two or three hundred feet overlooking the blue waters of Hawke's Bay. The position is perfect. The sea revealed through the foliage of the surrounding garden lies, now like a great sapphire sparkling in the sun, singing, in low musical rhythm and cadence, its serenade to the shore, and again rises in mighty fugues that thunder up the cliffs with the fulminations of artillery in full blast.

The elder pupils of the Hukarere School are principally girls who have passed the Standards and won scholarships at the village schools. These are entitled to two years’ education at Hukarere, the scholarships being fixed at £2O a year. The others, with the exception of a few whose parents contribute towards the expenses, are on the foundation, the income of which is derived from the Te Aute estate. A portion of the estate was donated by the Maoris for the education of Maori boys and girls, and the rest by Government for the schooling of both native and white boys. The Te Aute College, of which I hope to send photographs and an account later on, is the institution for boys supported by this fund.

The Hukarere School opened twenty years ago, with three scholars. The number now on the rolls is fifty-six. Miss Minton is the matron, Miss Downs the head mistress, and the Misses Williams, daughters of the late Bi-bop Williams, exercise a general superintendence over the establishment. I was present at the prize giving before Christmas, and a most interest-

ing ceremony it was. The prizes were presented by the Very Rev. Dean Hovell, and the Rev. Archdeacon Leonard Williams, Bishop elect of Waiapu, addressed the girls in their own language by way ot giving them the pleasure of hearing their native tongue. They speak English perfectly, that being a branch they learn from the

very beginning—all the lessons being given in English—and very quickly they pick it up, even the youngest of them. The prizes included, besides those usual in all schools, awards for dressmaking, cooking, and general usefulness about the house, for these native girls, who range in age from four or five years to twenty, in addition to being well instructed in Scripture, the three R's, grammar, geo-

graphy, physiology, drawing, class singing, and needlework, are thoroughly initiated into household arrangements and domestic matters generally. This is effected by the elder girls taking the cooking department in turns—there are eleven cooks for the school year, each taking a month—and the rest of the work being done by the pupils in pairs.

For instance, two girls take the dining-room, arranging the table and waiting on their companions. Others act in couples as bedroom girls and housemaids, two being ap. pointed to each room, and so on through all the domiciliary arrangements, including the washing and ironing of the establishment. Thus a practical and most valuable knowledge ot housekeeping duties is acquired. Instrumental mnsic is an extra subject. About fifteen

girls were learning last term. They are exceedingly apt at music, and catch up songs very quickly. I thought I bad ever heard children's songs sung so sweetly as those In listened to on their * breaking-up ’ day. There was not a voice or a note ont of time or tune. The needlework was excellent—the whole exhibition quite on a par with that of any similar school of English girls. The knitting and dressmaking formed a prominent feature of the display. In the former branch were all kinds of warm underwear, and the babies’ garments, of which there were a good many samples, were sewn and finished with a neatness no English mother could have surpassed. Most of the dresses were made by workers who bad never made one before, the plan of instruction being for the teacher to fix one side of the dress and the pupils the other. The garments, the materials being paid for by the girls, are taken home for themselves or members of their families. Scripture and the Cbrisiatn faith are taught daily by the head mistress, herself a half-caste, the Misses Williams taking Bible classes on the Sunday and several times during the week. The young people attend the Napier Cathedral on Sunday mornings. In the evening Miss K. Williams conducts service at the school in the Maori language, assisted occasionally by the Rev. Archdeacon Samuel Williams and the Rev. Arthur Williams. The children are allowed to speak their own language on Saturday only—the lessons being given in English, it has been found that a toofrequent use of the nativetongue interferes with their progress—hence the necessity of the rule. They are taught to write and speak Maori grammatically, it having been reduced to a grammar by two ladies of long and intimate knowledge of the language. An interesting and useful feature of their training, I must not forget to mention is the taking of the girls out ou shopping excursions, by which they are taught to choose snd to bnv. and to lay out their money economically and to th e best advantage.