E.—l

XI

Native Schools. The number of Native village schools at the end of the year is 67, including Matihetihe, carried on in conjunction with Waitapu. During the year four schools were given up, and two old schools were reopened, and one new one established. The immediate cause of closing in each of the four cases was the smallness of the number of pupils. This appears to have been due at Pukepoto to the comparative proximity of another school which attracted the children of intermediate places, at Whakarapa, to tribal jealousy and the position of the school, which has proved to be not sufficiently near the principal settlement of the neighbourhood, at Waikare, to the indifference of the people, and at Kopua, to the decline of population. Whakarapa is to be reopened shortly, and it will most likely be found necessary before long to remove the school-buildings to a more suitable site The one new school of the year is at Whangaruru ,it may be regarded as m a sense the successor of the Waikare School, and it is at present being conducted experimentally man inexpensive way The reopening of Te Teko School was consequent upon the return of the Natives to the settlement, which they were compelled to abandon on account of the condition to which it was reduced by the volcanic disturbance of 1886 At Little Eiver the school was closed early in 1890 in the yam hopa of inducing the Maori children to attend the Board school, and it has now been re-established at the urgent request of the Native people, supported by their representatives. At the four boarding-schools for Natives there are 74 pupils introduced by the Department, besides 120 who may be regarded as foundation scholars. Of the Government pupils, 44 are the holders of scholarships obtained m the village schools. The numbers in detail are —'St Stephen's, 46 (including 22 Grovernment pupils, 20 of whom hold scholarships), Te Ante, 73 (including 11 Government scholars); Hukarere, 54 (including 8 scholars and 12 other Grovernment pupils), St. Joseph's, 21 (all Grovernment pupils, of whom 5 hold scholarships) Hukarere and St. Joseph's are girls' schools. At the village schools the average attendance for the year is 1,837 For the last quarter of the year the attendance is 1,703 (938 boys, 765 girls), with 2,231 on the roll (1,231 boys, 1,000 girls) Of the number on the roll (2,231), the half-castes are 239, the Maori (including those in whom Maori blood predominates) are 1,589, and the Europeans (including children of mixed race inclining to European) are 403. Only 51 are under five years old, and 78 over fifteen; of the rest, 1,207 are under ten and 895 above ten years old. At the inspections of the year 2,270 children were on the rolls, and 810 passed the standard examination —330 in the First Standard, 230 m the Second, 183 in the Third, and 67 in the Fourth. The "percentage of passes " therefore —in the sense in which that term is used m the public-school system—is about 36. The staff of Native village-school teachers at the end of the year consisted of 57 head-masters (at salaries varying from £84 to ,£205), 9 head-mistresses (£72 to £190), 26 assistant mistresses (£lO to £55), 1 assistant master —a Maori —(£2O), and 38 teachers of sewing (£2O each)

Expeni liture for the Year 1891. Provincial Districts. Office Expenses and Salaries. Other Expenses of Management Paid for Primary Education. Paid for Deposits Secondary and Education. Investments. Balances on 31st December, 1801. Total. lUckland 'aranaki Wellington lawke's Bay larlborough Telson Vestland lanterbury Itago £ s. a.! 103 10 9 50 0 0 199 4 3 130 0 0 18 15 0 35 0 0 23 9 6 547 0 0 803 8 2 £ s. a. 35S 2 l! 245 12 81 289 10 10 83 14 9' 15 14 0 22 7 4 27 2 2 24 1 0 975 19 4 £ s. a. 1 800 0 0 1 100 0 0 1 100 0 0 2,200 0 0 200 0 0 ! 900 0 0, £ s. a. 818 12 4 ! 202 15 9 I I 420 15 o' i £ s. a. 67 6 8 107 1 4 ! 21 0 0 3 5 0 £ s. d. 1 247 13 10 052 5 3 917 14 7 1 832 13 0 140 18 2 130 0 1 11 3 7 272 1 11 8 462 17 0 £ s. d. 4,395 11 8 2,357 15 0 2 527 9 8 4,673 2 9 378 12 8 1 387 7 5 61 15 3 15 643 3 5 23 893 9 4 300 0 0, 14 800 0 0 12 517 11 2; 068 13 8! 465 0 0 Totals for 1891 Totals for 1890 1 910 13 8 2 519 13 9 2,042 5 2, 1 366 19 8 ,34 617 11 2 33,400 4 3 12,416 16 9 1 858 15 6; 663 13 0 99 0 0 13 067 7 5 10,743 13 10 55 318 7 2 49 988 7 0