E.—l

The valuable services of the District Superintendents have again to be acknowledged. Since the end of the year schools have been opened at Kaikohe and Moari Kaeo, and a subsidized school at Te Ore Ore, and a school at Mangamuka has been substituted for one at Rakaupara. New buildings are required at Waitetuna, Maungatapu, Te Awahou, Ruataniwha, Waiomatatini, Waiapu, "Whakarapa, Te Kao, Waimamaku, Tangitiroria, Kirikiri, Te Waotu, Waioeka, Ramoto, and Chatham Islands, and probably in other places. Institution for the Deaf-and-dumb. The institution at Sumner for the deaf-and-dumb is now attended by 24 pupils, 13 being boys, and 11 of the other sex. Eight of them come from Otago, 8 from Canterbury, 4 from Auckland, 2 from Wellington, 1 from Hawke's Bay, and 1 from Melbourne. The admission of another case from Auckland has just been approved, and one from the same district is now under consideration. The method of instruction—the articulation method —is producing very satisfactory results. The institution is subject to regular medical inspection, and it has been visited during the year by the Minister of Education, the Secretary for Education, the Inspector-General of Schools, and other officers of the department. Hitherto the Director, whose ability and zeal deserve high commendation, has had only one assistant. The peculiar difficulty and laboriousness of the work are such as to render it almost impossible for one teacher to do justice to more than ten pupils, and the appointment of another assistant cannot long be delayed. The nominal charge made by the Government for each pupil is £40 a year; but, in- some instances, this is reduced or abandoned, in order that no child capab of receiving benefit from the course of instruction may be excluded. The cost for the financial year is shown in Table No. 8, Appendix, page 8, and the report of the Director will be found in another paper (E.-3). Industrial Schools and Orphanages. The Burnham and Caversham Industrial Schools are wholly maintained by Government. The cost for each child at Burnham for the year (including salaries of officers and teachers) was £13 9s. 4-|-d,, or deducting sums received from relatives of the children £11 14s. o|d. To this should be added £1 ss. 3d. for each child, for the value, £235 19s. Bd., of produce raised on the farm and consumed. During the year £1,325 was spent on buildings, and £224 was spent on the farm in excess of the returns from sale of produce and the value of produce raised and consumed; and these two items represent about £8 ss. for each child. It would not be quite fair to charge this to annual maintenance, seeing that it has been expended on permanent extensions and improvements, and on stock. The cost at Caversham was £12 11s. 6d., or, deducting sums received from relatives, £11 9s. 2d., to either of which the expense that may be added for buildings is £2 ss. lOd. The Kohimarama Naval Training School established under "The Naval Training Schools Act, 1874," has also been maintained by the Colonial Government. The cost for the year was about £35 ss. for each boy, about £1 of this amount being for expenses not properly chargable to annual maintenance. Contributions from parents to the extent of £2 os. 6d. reduce the cost to £33 4s. 6d. At the end of March in the present year the school was broken up, it being considered that in the present circumstances of the colony no adequate return was obtained for the comparatively large outlay on an institution of this character. Most of the boys were sent to suitable places of service or to their relatives, and the remainder —twelve in number —were committed by the Resident Magistrate to the industrial school which now occupies the Kohimarama premises. The Auckland Industrial Home was until March of this year maintained by a benevolent society, and Government gave £1 for every pound voluntarily contributed to the society, and paid £10 a year for every child committed under " The Neglected and Criminal Children Act, 1867," or admitted at the instance of the Relieving Officer, besides which the Auckland Board of Education received a capitation allowance of £3 16s. 6d. under "The Education Act, 1877," for every inmate attending the day-school of the home. This arrangement ceased on the 31st March, and the school is now maintained in the same way as those at iii—E. 1.

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