The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1873.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume VIII, Issue 45, 20 February 1873, Page 2

The Nelson Evening Mail. THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 20, 1873.

The census returns of 1871, which have only recently been published in a com- , plete form, contain a large amount of information that is both instructive, and interesting to tbose who watch the progress c>f; the colony. In 'looking oyer that' portion which comes under the .head " Education," we '/fiinil - compares -most favorably yyiith the other provinces with regard toi the .number of, : ; cbilflren^^ b^k :^p^^ ;: <^s^iifbal|;it^is^bere^ luitancM, making the. totil number o f

the school-going children elsewhere bear a larger proportion to the total population than is the case in this province. The following figures, which we have collated from the return before us, will Bhow to what extent this is the case. ; The population of Nelson, at the time the census was taken, was 22,500, while the number of children at* schools supported by Government aid was 2371; at private schools, or those not receiving Government aid, 560, the former showing an increase of 673, the latter a decrease of 90, as compared with the return of 1867. In Auckland, with a population of 62,335, there were 1349 children at Government, and 6146 at private schools. - In Wellington, where the population was 24,000, the numbers were 888 and 2307 respectively. In Canterbury, the population was 46,801, and the number of children at Government schools 2796, and at private schools 2773. In Otago, where the population was 60,772, the numbers were 6243 at the former, and 2312 at the latter schools. The following extracts, bearing upon this subject, from the report of the Registrar- General may prove interesting : i — The nearest approach to what may be considered tbe "school-going period," which is derivable from the census returns, is that shown by the numbers between five, and fifteen years of age. Within those ages, the population in 1871 amounted to 5 4,771, and the numbers returned as attending day schools to 31,710, beiDg a proportion of 57.89 per cent, on tbat total, against 47.74 per cent, on the total in 1867. Taking the aggregate population of all ages under fifteen, the proportion attending day Bchools in 1871 was 31.28 against 25.20 in 1867. The returns satisfactorily bring out the conclusions tbat in 1871 there were at least 31,710 scholars attending day schools (public or private) in the colony, against 19,952 in 1867; and that (including those attending Sunday schools only, and those attending both day and Sunday schools) there were 28,601 receiving Sunday school instruction in 1871, against 17.778 in 1867. The numbers of those receiving educatien at home cannot, of course, be exhibited in these or any similar returns j but to repeat, as equally applicable now, a sentence iu. tho Report for 1867, "the existence, extent, and value of Home Education in New Zealand should never be lost sight of, or treated as unimportant in any comprehensive estimate of the 'means in operation for the intellectual and moral training of the youth of the colony."