BOARD OF EDUCATION.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 227, 15 January 1876, Page 10

BOARD OF EDUCATION.

The Education Board met on Thursday at the usual hour. Present—Mr. Pharazyn, M.L.C. (in the chair), Messrs. Bunny, Dalrymple, and Gisborne. The minutes of the last meeting held in the year 1875 were read. GOVERNMENT GRANT. The Secretary read the following letter from the Superintendent, in answer to a communication from the Board : Superintendent's Office, Wellington, December 23, 1875. g IB —Referring to a letter addressed by you to the Provincial Secretary on the 17th tilt., asking for the payment of a sum of £1693 17s. lOd. out of the Provincial Council vote of £6OOO for school buildings, I have the honor to point out that the Education Board has already had out of that vote a sum of £3955 14s. 2d., being considerably more than onehalf. And though the erection of school buildings is a very important work, still you must be aware that votes of the Provincial Council can only be expended as revenue accrues, and that the Provincial Government should be consulted before any expenditure is incurred which touches upon the revenue which it has to administer. I have to-dav signed a warrant for payment of £IOOO to the Education Board ; but it must be distinctly understood that the Board, before incurring any expenditure by which the vote of the Council is rendered liable, must consult with me as to whether sufficient revenue has been received to meet required expenditure.—l have, &c, William Fitzherbert, Superintendent. C. C. Graham, Esq., „ Secretary Wellington Education Board. The Secretary was instructed to write to the Superintendent, informing him that money, to the full amount of the vote had been appropriated by the previous Board. Mr. Bunny was of opinion that the Board could not look to the Provincial Government for anything after the grant had been made up, that was as between April and the 30th September. SCHOOLS AND SCHOOLMASTERS.

The Secretary read a report from the Inspector, touching the appointment of teachers in certain schools.—Confirmed, With reference to the correspondence between Mr. Hurley and the Secretary, and in regard to which the Inspector had been requested to report, the following was submitted to the meeting:— Wellington, January 13, IS7G. Gentlesiek, —At the request of your Board, I have gone through the correspondence between the Secretary and Mr. Hurley, in reference to a claim by the latter for payment of salary on an average attendance of seventy-five for the half-year ending 30 June last. I find that Mr. Hurley has taken wrong data for making out his case. He has struck an average on eight out of nine months, including three months of the following half-year, but excluding the month of January (with the lowest average) altogether. His true average for the six months ending 30th June last —months on which all other teachers' averages have been struck —is about seventy. I am at a loss to know why Mr. Hurley should have thus attempted to make out a claim : and yet he has replied in unwarranted and intemperate language to the necessary representations of the Secretary, who has simply carried out the instructions of your Board. I think Mr. Hurley's imputations in this correspondence, and his statements therein again repeated in reference to his failure at the last July examination of teachers, are reprehensible I may here also inform your Board, that at my last examination of Mr. Hurley's school, in every case investigated, the individual ages of the children had been returned from four to fourteen months under their actual ages. This would, of course, give the school a better cast. Mr. Hurley's explanation was, that he had made up his schedules a month or so before, expecting me then ; but as, at the earliest, such returns would be for the end of August, and the

school was examined at the beginning of returns being made for end of October, two months at most can only thus be accounted for.—l am, &c. BO BERT LiTCE, Inspector of Schools. Education Board, Wellington. INSPECTOR'S ANNUAL REPORT. The annual report of the Inspector of Schools was placed on the table, and after some discussion it was agreed that the report should be printed in fall, before being discussed, m order that members might have full opportunity of perusing and studying its contents. The following is the report: — I have the honor to report as follows, the results of the examination of the schools, maue at the close of the year 1575.

I. PROGRESS MADE. Under the system of examination now in full working order in the province, the table of results attached to this report as appendix 1., will give the fullest details of the state of the schools, inasmuch as it presents a summary of the actual standing of every child as determined bv individual examination. lam pleased to report that very considerable progress has been made during the past year, not only as shown by actual results, but also by the character of the work presented, and by the improved management and efficiency of the schools. The progress appears to me as satisfactory as could fairly be expected, although there are some schools which are exceptions to tins rul° By the present method of comparing results a good master will have his work valued, a bad one cannot hold his ground. I attribute the marked progress of the year to the effects of improved accommodation, careful selection of teachers, and the working of a uniform system; and even more especially to a strong spirit of emulation generated In the scholars themselves by the system of uniform and definite examinations, and to the conscientious discharge of duty by the teachers of the efficient schools. Whilst this last most powerful agency has brought thenseveral schools to the front in my notices of them it has also lifted the whole standard of education in the province. ~ . ~ There were 3470 children actually present at all during the month ending on the date of the examination Of these 2093 were examined. There are now in the schools 1666 candidates . who have passed standard i. This raisesthe per centage passed in that standard from 40 to 48—a fairly satisfactory and steady increase, as it is in the higher standards where most improvement was this year hoped for. Ihere has, however, been a very large increase in standard ii. passes ; and this, I consider, a most satisfactory statement. Whereas only 445 passed standard n. last year 657 have passed this year—an increase of nearly 50 per cent., and a most gratifying result because I feel sure that, if the foundation of any education is well laid, the superstructure will most probably rise in time and remain firm. Ido not think I have yet examined any school in which I had to complain that not sufficient work had been attempted ; the fault is generally in the quality of the work done or supposed to be done. Our second standard still represents, as it will probably for many years; represent, the limit of the work done in many of our very elementary schools, and therefore I hope to see year by year larger per centage passes in this standard. It is not however, until standard hi. has been passed, that anything deserving the name of an education has been received. The number of passes in this standard has increased from 45 last year to 111 this year, of which latter number 91 are new passes, and 20 are scholars remaining in the schools out of the 45 passed last year. I have examined for the first time in standard iv., which is at present the highest standard inaugurated, and which represents most creditable work for a pupil of fourteen years of age. Six boys and one girl have obtained the first certificates issued for this standard. A list of all scholars passed in standards iii. and iv. will be found in Appendix 2. They are arranged in order of merit.

11. NOTICES ON THE SEVERAL SCHOOLS. I shall now proceed to give a short notice of each school, taking the schools seriatim in order of size. The last column of the table of results (Appendix 1) gives also in a nutshell an estimate of each school, all circumstances being considered. ■ fa) Large Schools (of at least 100 Pupils). There are eleven schools, whose gross attendance is 100 or over. They are mostly under experienced masters, and doing at least satisfactory work. 1 1 is to the marked progress made in these large schools that very much of the general progress is due. 1 Te Aro, Wellington City. Much improved throughout. Increased teaching power has been effective Mr. Bowband's classes were remarkably good Son of the Hon Wi Tako passed standard m. creditably. A large cadet corps is well established in connection with this school. ~•,•, 2 Thorndon, Wellington City.—The best school of this class. Work uniformly good throughout, careful, sound, and honest. The head master, who is a first-class trained and experienced teacher, is much esteemed by all who are under him. 3. Greytown. -Results in arithmetic and general knowledge good. Master hard-working. Reading, writing, discipline, and general management should improve. . i 7 , 4. Grammar School, Wanganm.—lmproved throughout. Mr. England has done good service, and the pupil teacher is becoming a competent assistant. 5. Carterton.- Good results, largely due to previous passes. Attempts made to force pupils for standard iii. Discipline, though strict, indicates a want of genial influence. 6. Victoria Avenue, AVanganui.—lmproved work, especially in the upper classes. It is a totally different school to what I found it two years ago. Better assistance will be provided. 7. Lower Hutt.—Work of upper section under the master satisfactory ; that of the lower hardly so satisfactory, except in reading. The master is energetic, and laboring under great disadvantages. 8. East Masterton.— The master is experienced, a good disciplinarian, energetic, and very musical. The work is satisfactory, and promises much better results next year, with the competent assistance now provided. 9. Boulcott-street, Wellington City. Attempts made to force candidates for standard iii. Arithmetic of upper school good ; writing and reading of an inferior order. Ages of children returned under their actual age. . 10. Hill-street, Wellington City.—This school is under perfect control. Though the arithmetic was neatly presented, it showed a want of a large grasp of the principles. The writing was very neat and good ; but the reading indicated little painstaking. The master will do well to modify his time-table and mo'hods of working. . i'. Buckle-street Boys.—School opens with fair pr■•••. >ccts of success, under the provisional management of Mr. Newlyn. The children examined and returned are only those not previously examined in any other school. (b.J Moderate-sized Schools (CO to 100 Scholars). These sixteen schools are generally producing good results, except that in six of them—Johnsonville, Taita, Karori, Palmerston, and Wanganui girls' schools—the standard is far too low. Better results will be looker for in these six schools. The Taratahi, Foxton, Turakina, and Sandon schools, are the best of 1. Foxton. —Admirable order. A school of great promise. Good subdued singing, and the greatest animation and cheerfulness, 2. Feilding.—Work sound as far as it goes. Well conducted. Master energetic and painstaking. 3. Marton.—Generally improved. Master able, but should be more animated ; ind, when necessary, firmer in command. The school generally wants life 4' Wanganui Girls'.—Many of the children are infants. The standard is rather low. The children are under good influences. . . ■> . 5. Upper Hutt.—Little evidence of painstakmg and effective work. _, 6 Buckle-street Girls', Wellington City.—lhe head mistress takes charge after the holidays. She is a lady of ability, and the kindest influences for good. Seventy-two girls now attending. 7 Turakina.— Much improved. Under a painstaking and conscientious master, who is fast raising the standard of the school. . S Taita. —Very lowin standard 11. results. Discipline weak ; master kind. Much better work will be expected.

9. Sandon.—Good work done by girls, who are the best scholars in the school. Work generally efficient; 10. Johnsonville. —School slowly improving. Results very low, except in elementary work. Mistress competent if energetic. 11. Karori.—Good careful reading throughout the school. Better work in other subjects hoped for next year. 12. Wairoa.—Much improved. Past and present teachers doing good service. 13. Pahautanui.— The work should be better presented. School life rather dull : pupil teacher wants more energy. Results on the whole satisfactory. 14. Palmerston. —No uniform teaching: weak discipline. Boys playing truant within fifty yards of school. 15. Tawa Flat. —Master painstaking, and school generally satisfactory. 10. Taratahi. —Master newly appointed. He is an excellent well-trained teacher, alive to the value of moral and physical training,

(c.) Small Schools (Under 50 Children.J There are seventeen schools in this class, of which Kaitoke is facile princeps. Very good work has been done at Western Rangitikei. Makirikiri, Porirua and Ohariu, and satisfactory work at Moroa and Tauherenikau Of the remaining ten, not much can be said in their favor, many of them being a dead weight against improved average results. Featherston and Bulls should double their attendance. In each of the four schools last on this list, less than twenty children are attending. ... ' ' . ' « 1. Bulls.—Reading poor, writing positively toad, arithmetic very fair, work not neatly presented, irregular attendance, and a want of public interest in the success of the school. . 2. Upper Tutaenui.—Children of upper section not prepared in composition and history; a falling off in the efficiency. ,» .. , 3 Featherston. —General condition unsatisfactory. Under the new master. Mr. Everiss, I anticipate a total change for the better. He has proved himself a thoroughly efficient and painstaking master. _ 4. Kaiwarra.— Results disappointing; they indicate a want of constant painstaking work. School under good control, and the mistress competent if zealous. _ 5. Kaitoke.—Best results in the province. llns school more than maintains its former efficiency. The whole work is sound, accurate, and well presented. . . 6. Moroa.—Teacher competent. School satisfactorily improved. . 7. Greatford.—School recently opened with fair prospects. , . , 8 Ohariu. This school has much improved. Really good work has been done. Many children not taking advantage of the. school, but employed carting wood. . 9. Makirikiri (by Marton).—Mr. Postans has done exceedingly good work, showing how much a really painstaking teacher can do in a limited time. 10. Waingawa —The master is competent and seems painstaking and of a kindly influence, but the results at present are far from satisfactory. The material is however very new. 11. Porirua.—During the short time Mr. Everiss has held charge he has put the school on a better footing. The population is falling off. 12. Western Rangitikei. -Excellent results for the time. Children most carefully and most kindly taught and trained. . 13. Wainuiomata.—Very wet day for visit. Children kept at home for want of a fireplace, since erected in proper position. Apparently not much improvement. 14 West Masterton. —There is a prospect of a larger school when new buildings are erected, and a new teacher in charge. The present standard of the school is rather low. . , • , 15. Carnarvon.—The new teacher exercises a kindly influence, and appears painstaking. „'!'.''. 16. Maxwell. —Want of evidence of effective teaching. Better results promised next year. Attendance small and irregular. , . ■, . . -r, 17. Tauherenikau.—Under a kind mistress. _ Progress satisfactory. Only young children attending.

fdj Half-time Schools. There are eighteen schools receiving three hours' instruction daily. lam glad your Board, by a recent resolution, has put it in the power of local committees to obtain full time services for these schools by supplementing Board aid. The schools at Mataongaonga. and Mar's Hill, under Mr. Mair, are the best of this class A ehange of teaching power in some of these schools will probably prove beneficial. The half-time system is only a temporary expediency, but quality of teaching is better than quantity. 1. Horokiwi Valley,—The results are high, but the lower part of the school has not lately received due attention. j 2. Marangae. —Much improved in all respects. 3'4. North Makara and South Makara.—Though these schools are still very low in results, some improvement has been made. 5-0 Belmont and Korokoro. —Master unqualified. Reading inarticulate. Bad spelling. Teaching ineffective . . 7-8. Turakina Valley and Cluny.—Master unqualified. No effective teaching. School life a weary profitless expenditure of time. 9-10. Parawanui and Lower Rangitikei.—Population thinning out. Schools not well appointed. Writing and reading poor. Want of cheerful influence and careful work. 11-12. River Bank and Kaikopopu.—Reading very humdrum. All work flat and lifeless. Master apparently competent if energetic. 13-14. Matarawa and Denlair. —These schools have suffered by the promotion of Mr. Postans. Good candidates failed to pass. 15-10. Mataongaonga and Mars Hill. —Both much improved, and in efficient working order. Master competent and painstaking. 17-18. Kaiwaiwai and Wharekaka. —Generally fair work. The manners of the children have much improved. I was disappointed in not passing standard iii. candidates at Kaiwaiwai. HI, —PUBLIC EDUCATION IN THINLY-POPULATED DISTRICTS. Ratepayers, who live out of ordinary reach of any school established by your Board, express themselves aggrieved at being shut off from directly participating in the benefits which the public school should offer to all. I have visited Mr. Hume, who lives at the foot of the Wairarapa Lake, eighteen miles from any school, and was kindly received by him. "His case is that of many others. lam of opinion that such cases may be met, if public funds will admit of it, in two ways. (1). By estE.blishing boarding schools. (9.). By capitation grants in aid of private efforts, such grants or subsidies being subject to well-defined conditions. Two boarding schools might be opened without delay and at comparatively little cost —one for the West Coast and one for the Wairarapa. By building a good sized teacher's residence, and one capable of extension by more dormitories, in country places where there is sufficient land attached, and by furnishing such residences, the end would be practically attained. The total cost of all charges to the parents for plain fare need not exceed £8 per quarter. The children would generally be weekly boarders. Such schools would prove remunerative posts, and would therefore command good teaching power. As the children would mostly be of advanced age, a high state of efficiency might be expected in time. As very small schools will seldom possess the best teaching power, boarding schools of this class would probably be a great boon to settlers, who are anxious to have their children well educated. And, as I think it will be difficult, because very costly, to maintain very small schools wholly from public funds, and as it seems desirable that the benefits of a system should be widely extended, 1 think where a school of any kind, however small, is maintained, a grant of say £3 per head might be made under the following conditions :

a. That the school is open to all. b. That the subsidised school is more than three miles from any public school. c. That the teacher is approved by the Board. d. That the scholars attend once a year the nearest public school for examination._ _ e. That the results of examination are satisfactory, f That the pupils are not under five years of age. g. That a suitable room is available. h. That an attendance register is kept. i. That parents elect a correspondent with the Board. ~ ~ . , . , j That the pupils for whom capitation is claimed have made during the year at least 150 attendances at which secular instruction has been given, not less than two and a half hours each.

IV. EDUCATION OF GIRLS. Except in large towns the girls attend in proportionate numbers to the boys. Good schools for girls only can be provided in towns. The new school for girls in Buckle-street, Wellington, will, I trust, become an excellent institution. Another is wanted at the Thorndon end. The great difficulty is in finding efficient teaching power. I have been much impressed with the character of the girls' work in many of our schools. Whereas only nine girls passed standard iii. last year, forty-two have done so_ this year. In many cases their work was exceedingly neat and accurate, and the arithmetic very often such as could only be acquired under competent masters. The girls frequently appear to possess as much mental acumen as the boys, and very often much greater application. If our teachers will keep a vigilant watch over the children at all times, and carefully separate the girls in the playground, they may profitably reap the advantages of a sound education imparted by competent teachers in our public schools.

V IRREGULAR ATTENDANCE. It frequently happens, as would be expected, that failures in examination are wholly traceable to irregular attendance at school. Although the average attendance of the province (73 per cent.) compares favorably with other parts of New Zealand and the Australian colonies, yet I think something might often be done to secure better attendance by making the school as attractive as possible to the children withovit relaxing the discipline. I have seen schools of which the scholars would deem it a hardship if they were kept at home. A school may be made thus attractive :—(1.) By the vivacity and general good humor of the teachers. (2.) By prizes given for attendance, only to all children who attend so many days. (3.) By school games in which the teachers take an interest. (4.) By introducing more interesting work into the curriculum of the school, such as science lessons, object lessons, use of the chain, singing, drawing, drill exercises, interesting repetitions, mental arithmetic, short lectures on duties of life. (5.) By making the schoolroom itself cheerful and interesting, or even a small museum as we see at Foxton. It is, however, with the parents that the chief difficulty rests with regard to absenteeism. Many are so indifferent, so indulgent, or so selfish, that they care little for their children's interests, and keep them away from school for most trivial reasons. Iu these cases a master is powerless, and a compulsory Act alone efficacious. VI. NOTICES AND RECOMMENDATIONS TO TEACHERS.

With the permission of your Board, I wish to notify to teachers that at the next examination in standards and ii. copy-books should be presented by each candidate with his dictation exercises in section ii. for writing marks ; that in standard iii. more prominence will be given to fractional arithmetic ; that the composition exercise for standard iii. should be done in exercise books ordinarily used for that purpose ; and that the special subjects for standard iv. will be the geography of Great Britain and her colonies, and the history of Britain from the accession of James I. to the death of George 11. Also that all candidates in all standards shall be able to repeat a passage of easy poetry, previously written out and presented on paper, from their respective reading books Nos. 1,3, 5, and 6., Royal Readers, of not less than 20, 30, 40. and 50 lines respectively in the several standards. I also recommend the general use of four new books in the Royal series—Reader, sequel to No. 1; Reader, sequel to No. 2 ; outlines of British history generally, and a history of Britain from the Union of the kingdoms to the year 1874. The reading books are valuable for script writing, which I should like to see generally practised. As the "Wellington Register" willnowbein general use, the age, time in school, and number of half-day attendances of each candidate should in future be accurately returned in the examination forms. These returns will be of more than ordinary importance next year, as the next examination will be the first one made, when the full interval of two years will have lapsed, in which every scholar of average ability, suitable age, and average attendance and time in school is expected to make a pass. I shall therefore then investigate all cases of children who have been two years in school without passing a higher standard. —I have. &c, Robert Lee, Inspector of Schools. The Hon. C. J. Pharazyn, Chairman of Education Board.

In addition to the above was a tabular statement, showing the general and comparative condition of the various schools under control of the Board, with a summary of the table of results, showing the increase in number of schools, attendance, &c. teachers' association. The following communication from the Teachers' Association was read :—" Chairman of the Board.—Sir, —As secretary of the Wellington Teachers' Association, I have much pleasure in forwarding you the following resolutions, which were carried at a general meeting of that body on the 23rd inst. :—Resolved, that the thanks of this association are due and are hereby tendered to the Education Board of the province of Wellington, for the generous manner in which our requests have been acceded to by the Board for the past twelve months. Resolved, owing to the attendance in schools being extremely low at times through wet weather, sickness, &c, we beg respectfully to recommend to the consideration of the Education Board the adoption of the following rule :—When more than threefourths the number of children on the books are absent through inclemency of weather or sickness, that such attendance be reckoned in calculating the average attendance. —I have, &c, Jeremiah Hurley." It was decided after a short discussion that the whole question should be relegated to the general meeting to be held in February next, the Inspector to report in the meantime. RE THE OHARIU CONTROVERSY. In regard to this subject, about which so much has been said and written, the following letter was read : We, the undersigned parents of children and other settlers in the Ohariu Valley, beg leave respectfully to object to the public schoolroom being used on Sundays for the purpose of religious worship. We wish to point out to you—First. That the said building having been erected out of a compulsory rate levied on householders of all creeds, we submit it is manifestly unfair to use it for the propagation of certain peculiar religious tenets. Secondly. That some of us being Roman Catholics and members of other religious bodies have strong conscientious scruples to the religious instruction therein inculcated. Thirdly. That unless the practice is discontinued we shall be compelled, entirely on conscientious grounds, to refuse sending our children to school. Hoping the Board will at an early date take into consideration the hardship of our position, —We have the honor to be, your respectful petitioners, Thos. Bassett, R. L. France, Joseph Everard, H. J. Wiley, P. Crowe, Lewis Brown, Charles R. Wiley, John Hagarty, F. A. Majendie, Dennis McKenny, Augustine McKenny, P. McLoughlin, Albert 11. F. Brown, 0. Beech, P. Quirk, W. Beech. Mr. Bunny could see no reason for objecting to the building being used, when it was not occupied on a Sunday. He failed to see how its being used in the manner described and complained of could affect children attending the school during the week. Mr. Graham stated that both the Church of England and Catholic bodies had churches there ; but the feeling was so strong that certain Roman Catholic parents had withdrawn their children from school. It was agreed to leave the settlement of the question to a majority of the local Board.

general business. It was agreed to call for tenders for the erection of a new school at West Masterton, on the report of the Inspector, whose statement was to the effect that a new teacher had been appointed, the attendance had largely increased, and additional accommodation was very necesssary. With regard to the offer of Mr. Cook to lease a reserve at IToxton, and guaranteeing to erect a substantial building thereon, the suggestion of Mr. Bunny, that plans of the building should be submitted for the Board's consideration, •was agreed to. Consideration of tenders for the Castle Point school was deferred till the meeting in February, when the member of the district would be present. MAURICEVILLE AND MORRISON'S BUSH SCHOOLS. Mr. Bunny called attention to the urgent necessity of schools in these localities ; and tenders were ordered to be called for the erection of suitable buildings. Mr. Bunny was requested to communicate with the General Government, with a view of having certain reserves at Mauriceville vested in the Board of Education. The Board adjourned at one o'clock, to meet again on the last Wednesday in the month, the 26 th inst.