The Chronicle. PUBLISHED DAILY MONDAY, JULY 31, 1911. COST OF EDUCATION IN NEW ZEALAND.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 31 July 1911, Page 2

The Chronicle. PUBLISHED DAILY MONDAY, JULY 31, 1911. COST OF EDUCATION IN NEW ZEALAND.

In a recent issue wo spoke of the stoady spi'Piul of education in Xow Zealand as displayod by t'he Year Book statistics- c-rwir-ornino; primary education. On l.liaL occasion wo intimated out intention of quotinc:; sonit> of t! 10 figures illustrative of the progress made. The initial paragraph of t-lie Year Hook's education section sots out that of ovory 100 pri'sor.s in Xow Zealand 53.0 eoni:|. read an 1 write. !.(> could road only, and 1 1.0 could neither read

nor write at the t ii>i■ ■ of the cens.,s of 1!)():!. The proportion able to read and write has in":'o:isr:l, and that of persons who cannot uad Ins :!;■ .Teas. .1 steadily since 187-1. The li:iiires re i'r e !•; :r cea.s :srs : l?ea:!:,nd Road ('am, ifc wiite only road Con-us 1871 S.Oi) 23.715 CVnsiis 1883 71.01 1.8!) 1H.19 Census 189!) 80.00 i\S9 I fi.r, l ('oiimh l!i('!) 83..10 1.(50 1 1.1)0 To ascertain, however, haw rnnipletely education is carried (rut. accepting as a test (,ho knowledge of i'( :i;l:n-a- id writing, it is necessary to show till? position at prevent in rc-poct. of a.iio ]>c:io:ls. At the period unde.r (ice years nana a''O lound to re-ad and write, an,l only 0.37 wore able lo road: 99 (53 1,-inn-unable to. d:> either :.n a court of extreme youth. At live to ten years 'load could read an-d write. aid 10.1-1 K'ad only leavi'i'!; 'il.'io w':o can!d not road. Hut this la-fc iicludes only three y<vi.rs -::f th:• • •ho--|-'ioiii'j; period. With the ,-ab -a |iU -:it up to !oriy ycurs figures under "]{r d only" ::a:i "Cannot" are reduc, d lo small fractions as mid. - '! - : Lead air! I'oad 'Ca.in, it

write only re t 10 to 15 years 99.15 0.22 15 to 20 yogi's 99.03 0.08 0.3: 20 to 25 years ..9.(<0 O.t'B 25 to MO years !)<)..|:J 0.13 0.1 I HO to 35 yr'iii's 99.35 O.Ki ().4< 35 to 10 years 09.12 0.21 O.(M

■U forty to forty-fire yours those u 1 i:> "cannot read" are over 1 per cent., and the proportion goes on increasing regularly, thus Read and Rend Can.'iot write only read 50 to 55 years 90.32 1.53 2 .To 00 to 05 years 91.05 2.53 3.12 70 to 75 roars 89.15 5.12 5.73 80 and upwards Bfi.lt 0.12 7.71 I'lie iniproved conditions of the young people aro clearly" shown above. At the last ■ two periods given, which belong' to advanced life, 5.31 per cent, aind fi.22 per cent, are found to bo either "reading only" or quite illiterate. The amounts expended per head of population, including Maoris, but not residents in the Cook or Pacific Islands, was as follows:— 1908-9 1909-10 Primary Schools Ifis Id 16s Gd Secondary Suhools 2s 2d 2s 5d Continuation and Technical . Is 2d Is 3d. Tlig'lier (includ'ing uni-

versity and higher Tcc.linical Gs Is 4d TiJtliistrial Schools 9d Sd Spo;'in 1 .Schools (deaf, blind, etc.) 41 3d Superannuation funds and miscellaneous 2d 3d Total per • Total per head 21s 8d head 22s 8d

It may be of interest to give the expenditure per head of population in some other places and countries. For primary education, public funds (general and local), contribute per head of the population in England and "Wales, 12s 3d; London, 17s; Wales alone, 15s sd; Scotland, 12s 4d; Treland, Gs 7d. Jn New York, the cost to the public pur.se of primary and secondary sducation (excluding the cost of new .buildings), is £1 Is 7d per head of the population, as against 14s Ud (or 16s 6d including tire income from reserves), in New Zealand.