15

E.—lβ

become very general, and there can be no doubt that our scholars, as a rule, thoroughly understand what they are reading. A slight tendency to pompousness and a certain exaggerated" enunciation of the initial "h" are occasionally observable. But these peculiarities will doubtless wear off in after life, and are, at any rate, better than a slovenly indistinctness. Although various nationalities help to make up the staple of our scholars, the result of this blending together seems, so far, to have resulted in the disappearance of any marked accents or provincialisms. Whiting.—The introduction into a large proportion of our schools of Jackson's vertical style of handwriting, which has been sanctioned but not enforced by the Board, has had a remarkable effect in improving the handwriting in such schools as have adopted this system. Scores of children whose letters formerly sprawled irregularly over their copy-books have been trained, in an almost incredibly short period, to write a compact, quick, serviceable hand, nearly as legible as print. As an examiner, part of whose duty it has been to read very rapidly thousands of schoolboy papers, I feel entitled to speak with confidence as to the relief to overtaxed eyesight afforded by the new style. This method can claim also as a collateral advantage that the way of holding the pen, and the posture of the writer, correspond exactly with those required in drawing, so that in this respect there is nothing to unlearn. Spelling.—The stringent demands for more accurate spelling made last year have, as is almost invariably the case in the end, brought about the supply. No difficulty is now found, as a rule, among the upper classes in complying with the " newspaper " test. Extracts from the Home Neivs of reasonable difficulty have been given out, and the average number of mistakes has rarely exceeded one or two, the spelling of the older scholars in some of our best schools being nearly faultless. Recitation.—The same good result has followed what appeared to some the harsh strictures contained in last year's report on the poor quality of the recitation. Even the worst of the performances are now, at any rate, tolerable, much of what was formerly barely tolerable being now good. More care and taste are also now shown in the selection of pieces to be committed to memory, though some of the trash that was condemned is still chosen by a few of the younger teachers,, who. have apparently not thought it worth their while to read what I had written oh this head. English.—The essays sent in, which were invariably on matters that the children knew something about, were somewhat disappointing, showing but little power of clear expression, and an astounding meagreness of vocabulary. Nor were these deficiencies by any means compensated by general proficiency in formal grammar. Persons, numbers, and cases were as often as not given quit.c at random, and the simplest questions on moods and tenses were usually answered incorrectly, or altogether evaded. Arithmetic. —It is doubtless largely owing to the cumbrous and complicated system of money-tables, weights, and measures that still remains, and seems likely to remain, unreformed that so monstrous a portion of the short school-day should be devoted to this subject. Yet it seems pitiable that a full third of a child's school-life should be engrossed by elementary arithmetic. As might be expected from the time and pains bestowed on it, considerable proficiency is attained in the handling of figures. The article turned out, though dearly bought, is certainly, in the main, of good quality. Geography.—This year's examinations brought to light some unlooked-for weaknesses. It was not that the children had not been taught many things, but that, as it turned out, they were not the things wanted. For instance, a query put to some of the older scholars as to the form of government of each of the six Great Powers brought out the fact that very few could so much as tell what was meant by the Great Powers. An equal amount of ignorance was betrayed by those who attempted to name the naval and commercial ports of France, or to write out the names of some of the Crown colonies and the self-governing colonies. Yet, surely such every-day matters as these should not be absolutely unknown to decently-taught scholars of thirteen or fourteen years old. History.—The teachers have evidently fully understood the scope of the new and much improved syllabus for history, which aims at giving " a clear view of a few prominent persons and salient facts." These were usually judiciously selected, and fairly well mastered by the learners, the dates being invariably correctly given. The task of the examiner was also much lightened, and a great deal of aimless groping in the dark on his part avoided. Drawing.—Owing to the shortness of the time that had elapsed since the new regulations on this subject came into foree —to say nothing of the difficulty of getting at once the requisite drawing-books and instruments—a fair trial of the new system has hardly yet been made. The difficulties, in fact, have been rather postponed than fairly met. But time enough has already gons by to justify my forebodings as to the disastrous effects upon other more important subjects that would probably follow an attempt to carry out the programme to its fullest extent. In most of our schools the teachers have contented themselves with allotting from an hour and a half to two hours weekly to the teaching of drawing—about as much time as is usually devoted to writing. Within these limits they have contrived to turn out very respectable work, but in few instances, so far, is there any close approach to compassing the entire circle of the syllabus. For my own part, I am well content with what has been achieved in this direction during the past year. Vocal Music.—The ever-increasing exactions of drawing, the full pressure of which will not, however, be felt until the coining year, have, as might have been expected, checked to a large extent the spread of the teaching of singing by note, which promised to become very general. In several schools where it was formerly taught efficiently it has been discontinued, for a time at least. There are, however, twenty-eight schools where it is still a part of the school course. In about fifteen of these the results may be termed satisfactory. The tonic-sol-fa system is that generally adopted.