PAPERS RELATIVE TO NATIVE SCHOOLS

17

A.—No. 3.

Enclosure 11 in No. 1. Otaki School.—Visited 3rd June, 18G7. Tins school existed as a day school, and received assistance from public funds as early as the year 1848. It was'not, however, till the year 1854, after that the Natives had given upwards of 500 acres of land for its support, that buildings were erected and a boarding-school established. In that year there were fifty-five Native boys, with two well trained monitors in the school, and an annual grant was promised for four years by the Government, on the understanding that at the end of that period the school should be rendered self-supporting. The annual grants during those four years amounted to £1872, and the average attendance for the same period was thirty-one (see Archdeacon Hadfield's report at the close of the year 1857) but there appears to have been great fluctuation in the numbers at different times. In the year 1555 the numbers were considerably decreased from various causes, which operated more or less in subsequent years. The principal of these are stated by Archdeacon Hadfield: (1.) The difficulty in obtaining competent teachers, and the evils consequent upon successivechanges of masters. (2.) An attack of measles which caused temporary disorganization of the school. (3.) The discontent arising from the enforcing of discipline, and from the necessity which arose of obtaining more labour from the pupils than was agreeable to them. (4.) The apathy and indifference of the parents. From that time to the present no assistance has been given by the Government to the support of the school, and no inspection of it has taken place. A clergyman (Mr. Desbois) has recently taken charge of the school, and an application has been made to the Government to supplement the funds available for its maintenance, on the ground (as I understand it) that though the institution is self-supporting, its general efficiency might be greatly enhanced, a better style of management introduced, and a larger number of pupils admitted, if a proportionate increase of funds were at the disposal of the managers. A considerable outlay has, moreover, been recently rendered necessary in the repairs and painting of the school buildings. The position of the managers is this : They have from year to year capitalized the proceeds of the estate in improvements of the farm and live stock, and a considerable outlay is still necessary to turn the property to its full account. While the school for various reasons had a limited number of pupils, there was no reason to ask for further help from the Government, the demand of the Natives for education being satisfied ; but it is believed that at the present time, with a competent master and an increase of numbers, a fresh impulse might be given to the school, and its usefulness might be considerably extended. Under these circumstances the present inspection has taken place. The school buildings, which have lately been painted at an expense of £150, are well adapted for the purpose for which they are intended, and are capable of accommodating at least double the present number of pupils. The master lives in a block of buildings some little distance from the schoolroom, which is also occupied by a Native teacher and by the boy's. The girls live in a separate building under the immediate supervision of Archdeacon Hadfield. The bedrooms and bedding appeared to be sufficient, though their general order and neatness might well be improved. The same remark will apply to the other household arrangements, of the deficiency of which the managers are sensible and which they propose to remedy. There are at present twenty-one boys and ten girls in the school. "When the present master took charge in January last, there were five boys and six girls in residence. Sixteen of the boys are from Otaki, one from Wellington, one from Ohau, one from Waikanae, one from the Hutt, and one from the Middle Island. Of the girls three are from Otaki, three from Manawatu, one from Waikawa, one from Wainui, one from Porirua, and one from the Hutt. The ages vary from eight to seventeen years. The occupations of the day are distributed in the following manner : —• Chapel, soon after sunrise, then breakfast. School hours, from 9 a.m. to 11.45 a.m. Dinner at 1 p.m. In the afternoon the bojs are employed in various ways, weeding, sowing crops, &c, till sunset, when they again attend chapel. The clothing is made by the pupils. The boys and girls are taught together in mixed classes in the same schoolroom. In the first class two boys read Maori and English fairly ; the remainder of the class, who had only been a short time at school, were not so far advanced. In arithmetic the older pupils were able to work sums in compound multiplication with tolerable success. There are four boys in another class who read monosyllables in English, and are fairly advanced in arithmetic. Another class is composed of children learning their letters. The writing throughout the school is neat and creditable. All the children understand and reply to questions put to them in English. Only one Scripture lesson is read in Maori. Some of the older pupils are learning drawing from the master in the evening. On the whole, I was very favourably impressed with the general character of the school. The present master is earnest in his work, and appears to be gradually introducing system and order among the pupils. I think that assistance at the present time made conditional upon continued improvement, would be well bestowed. 10th June, 1867. W. Eolmstoi^. Enclosure 12 in No. 1. Native Day School at Makew, inspected 3rd December, 1866. This school is not in receipt of Government aid, but as I understood it was probable that the 5