E.—2

1885. NEW ZEALAND.

EDUCATION: NATIVE SCHOOLS. (In continuation of E.-2, 1884.)

Presented to botli Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

The Inspector of Native Schools to the Inspectoe-Geneeal of Schools. Sie,— Wellington, 31st March, 1885. In accordance with your instructions, I have the honour to send in my report on the Native schools of New Zealand for the year 1884-85. Numbee op Schools. Seventy-one schools have been in operation during the whole or some portion of the year—viz., fifty-seven village schools, three half-time, five subsidised, and six boarding-schools. The boardingschools are not under the direct control of the Department; they are all connected with religious denominations, and are in receipt of capitation grants from the Government. The teachers of subsidised schools are employed by the Natives, the Government granting subsidies of limited amount. These schools are, generally, either undergoing a probation in order that it may be seen whether village schools could be kept going in the localities where they are situated, or they are village schools at which the attendance has fallen below the limit fixed by the Native Schools ' Code. Schools opened, eeopened, oe closed. Sickness in the district caused some delay in the reopening of the school at Omaramutu, eight miles from Opotiki, but a beginning was made in the June quarter, and the school now bids fair to be thoroughly successful. The new school at Pamapuria, in the Mangonui District, has taken the place of the unsuccessful school at Kaitaia. Through the exertions of the District Superintendent the new arrangement has been made on a thoroughly satisfactory basis, the three principal neighbouring hapus having been induced to give their hearty support to a scheme that is likely to provide for the educational wants of all the Natives in the Victoria Valley. The Tolago Bay (Uawa) School, which had to be closed at the end of 1883, has lately been reopened. A numerously-signed petition, in which the Uawa Natives expressed great eagerness to have a new teacher sent them, and promised to do their very best to keep up a good attendance, was sent to the Department. The request was complied with, on the understanding that this is the last attempt the Department will make to maintain a Native school at Uawa. The school at Matakohe, after having been closed for some months, was reopened at the beginning of the year 1885. The state of matters that led to the closing of this school was fully explained in my last report; the attendance dwindled down to nothing, and, as it seemed likely to remain at that figure, the master's services were dispensed with. It is possible that the school might have got through its difficulties, great as these were, if the master had permanently resided on the school premises instead of living at his own house some three miles away ;as it was, the school collapsed. The Natives appear to have thought, too, that the pupils of the school made no progress. This was a mistake ; all those that attended regularly did very well indeed. It may be expected, now that they have had another master sent them, who will always reside at the school, that the Natives will do their best to show that the break-down of the school was caused by their misfortune rather than by their fault. A subsidy has been granted for a small Native school at Taumarere; its continuance should depend on the amount of success achieved by the teacher. The Kaitaia school is the only one that has been permanently closed during the year. New Schools and New Buildings required, and New Schools applied fob. The legal difficulties that have for so long prevented the establishment of schools at Waimamaku, near the entrance to Hokianga Harbour, at Tangiteroria, on the Northern Wairoa, and at Te Waotu, in the Waikato District, have been almost or quite surmounted, and building should begin at these places very shortly. A tender for new buildings at Waiomatatini, East Coast, has been accepted, and the work should be now in progress. The Department is largely indebted to the public spirit of the Waiomatatini Natives, which enabled it to carry on a thoroughly successful school for I—E. 2.