E.—l

II

University of Otago; E.-7, Canterbury College; E.-8, Auckland University College; E.-9, Secondary Schools. Public Schools. In the last quarter of 1892 the average attendance —on which the capitation grant, the principal source of the Boards' income, depends—for the first time reached and exceeded one hundred thousand. In the year 1878, the first year of the operation of the Education Act now in force, the average attendance for the year was 45,521, and for the last quarter of the year 49,435. For 1892 the corresponding numbers are 99,070 and 100,917 ; and these numbers exceed those for 1891 by 2,012 and 4,653 respectively. Table A shows the progress in school attendance during the whole period of the operation of the Act.

TABLE A.—School Attendance and Yearly Increase from 1877 to 1892.

The main particulars of the attendance of the year in the several education districts are set forth in Table B. A comparison of local attendances for the fourth quarter with the attendances for the fourth quarter in the preceding year is of little value, because the attendance in the last quarter of 1891 was abnormally low in consequence of the prevalence of influenza. In 1892 most of the districts had, as usual, a larger attendance in the last quarter than in the three other quarters ; but Auckland and Westland are exceptions to this rule. The only district in which the average for the year is less than the average for 1891 is Wanganui, and there the difference is very slight, being merely the difference between 6,109 and 6,104. The case is explained by reference to the alteration of the boundaries of Stratford County, which had the effect of transferring the care of some schools from the Wanganui Board to that of Taranaki. Notwithstanding this change, the attendance for the fourth quarter of 1892 in Wanganui exceeds by 471 that of the corresponding quarter of 1891. Only two districts show a diminished attendance for the whole year in a comparison of the data for 1892 with those of 1891 : North Canterbury shows a loss of 245, and Nelson a loss of 67. The mean roll for the year is estimated by the following method : The state of the roll at the end of every week is ascertained, and, the average state of the roll having been deduced for each quarter, the mean of the four quarterly averages is the mean roll. For 1892 this number is 122,860. The average attendance— 99,070 —is to this roll-number as 80 - 6 to 100. This is the highest ratio yet recorded. In 1891, and also in 1889, the highest preceding level—Bo - 3 per cent. —was attained. Table A shows that, with slight fluctuations, there has been a steady increase from 73 - 6 in 1882 to 80*6 in 1892. The highest ratio of attend-

Sehi ioI Attendance, Yearly Increase on Year. - d o oBfa ■ to M o o .OM a H pi f gtS A a ° o .2 Average A1 ;tendance. wo "■<? g © 8s 0,0(1,0 3§S M d O © WW Sh " W O 0) 33 a . w S s 3 >; wo 43 Average At Fourth Quarter. jtendance. Fourth Quarter. Whole Year. Whole Year. 1877 1878 1879 1880 1881 1882 1883 1884 1885 1886 1887 1888 1889 1890 1891 1892 50,849 59,707 68,124 74,359 76,309 79,416 84,883 90,670 95,377 99,206 103,534 104,919 108,158 110,665 112,279 55,688 65,040 75,566 82,401 83,560 87,179 92,476 97,238 102,407 106,328 110,919 112,685 115,456 117,912 119,523 122,620 49,435 57,301 62,946 63,009 66,426 70,077 74,650 80,183 83,361 87,386 90,849 94,308 96,670 96,264 100,917 45,521 53,067 60,625 61,822 63,709 67,373 72,657 78,327 80,737 85,637 90,108 93,374 94,632 97,058 99,070 73-8 74-6 74-2 73-6 74-0 75-1 76-6 76-1 77-0 79-3 80-3 79-9 80-3 80-6 8,858 8,417 6,235 1,950 3,107 5,467 5,787 4,707 3,829 4,328 1,385 3,239 2,507 1,614 9,352 10,526 6,835 1,159 3,619 5,297 4,762 5,169 3,921 4,591 1,766 2,771 2,456 1,611 3,097 7,866 5,645 63 3,417 3,651 4,573 5,533 3,178 4,025 3,463 3,459 2,362 [-406] 4,653 7,546 7,558 1,197 1,887 3,664 5,284 5,670 2,410 4,900 4,471 3,266 1,258 2,426 2,012