THE Temuka Leader. TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 1892. S.C. EDUCATION BOARD.

Temuka Leader, Issue 2342, 12 April 1892, Page 2

THE Temuka Leader. TUESDAY, APRIL 12, 1892. S.C. EDUCATION BOARD.

The annual report of Mr Gow, the inspector of schools for the Education Board of South Canterbury, has just been issued. From it we learn that there are now 57 schools in operation in this Education District, as against 52 a year ago. During the past year 4975 children were presented for examination, of which number 1722 were either infants or had passed Standard 6. In the Standard classes 3253 children were presented, 30G9 of whom were present on the day of the examination. Of these 2322, or 79 per cent, of the whole, passed the Standards for which they were presented. This result shows that the district has made very satisfactory progress during the past year, and the average shows that the schools under Mr Gow's control are in a very forward state of efficiency. This happy result is no doubt to a great extent due to the careful supervision of Mr Gow himself, as well as to his excellent methods of inspection. We are pleased to notice that during the five years Mr Gow has held the office of inspector here the increased efficiency of the schools has been very marked, and the examination results have been of a much higher character than formerly. The following comparision of the results obtained in 1880, when Mr Gow took office, and in 1891 speak for themselves :

M Co*" * s °pi n i° u that in small country' schools i'^ 8 ad ™ able to + a PP° int female teachers in preference to males, the reason being that when a female obtains an appointment she is more likely to hold it for a longer tjmo than a male. Ho says that « During the year a phange of the teachers took place ill 13 schools. In eicht of these the general results of the examination foil short of the average of the district as a whole. The changes occur more frequently in small schools taught by men than they do m similar schools where women have charge. This would be a strong plea for the employment of women in preference to men in our small schools, if at the same time it could be shown that they are as successful teachers." Mr Gow is of opinion that the results of the year's examination go f,-i.r to prove that this is really the ease.

Mr Gow rightly complains of the irregularity of the attendance in South Canterbury. If parents do not send their children to school regularly they are not doing their duty in endeavoring to equip them for the battle of life. The State provides free education, and parents .should be compelled to send their children to school every day, except in the case of illness. Mr Gow's remarks in reference to this question of irregular attendance are so much to the point, and should carry so much weight, that we shall quote them yeibatim. He says :—" With respect to irregularity of attendance, the district ought to show a better record than it does. Why should 86 children out of every hundred on the rolls of the schools iu Otago be present every school day, while in our schools we can muster only 79 ! Not only are we a long way behind the best in the matter of regular attend- i aiice, but we fall short of the average for the colony. Those who attend irregularly are the despair of the teachers; they make little progress themselves, and are a drag on their fellows. It is a common saying among the teachers that if there is one day in the year when a pupil who is notoriously bad in this respect is sure to put in an appearance it is the examination day. An attendance at the examination of 05 per cent, of the children (the italics are ours) shows that there is some ground for this statement. Nor is it a bad tiling that they do turn out on that day; the pity is that those who have been the cause of their too frequent absence are not present to witness some of the immediate effects of their own indifference and folly." If parents would only take these words to heart, there would soon be not only an increase in Standard passes, but a perceptible rise in the moral and social tide of the community. There cannot be the slightest doubt but that South Canterbury affords better facilities for children to attend school than any rural district in New Zealand. The schools are numerous, the roads excellent, the climate one of the best, and consequently absence from school can only be attributed to the negligence of the parents. Owing to superior advantages South Canterbury ought to head the list for regularity of attendance, and yet it is behindhand. This certainly is a fact on which the parents ought to reflect. On the whole, we think that the report shows that the South Canterbury Board of Education can congratulate itself on the year's work, and on the progress made by the schools in the district.

Number Proportion Pr esented Passed Perfor Number of centage ExrninaPassed. Total of tion. School Roll Failures. 1880.1801. 18SG. 1891.188G. 1891.1886. 1891. •l:-{(55 1975 1815 232: J 11.53 4(5.05 i I5.5020.9G J .,