B.—lβ

22

Summary of Results for the Whole District.

HAWKE'S BAY. Sir, — Inspector's Office, Napier, 17th January, 1898. It is seldom that the opportunity offers of tracing the growth of an education district for a period of nearly twenty years under the same Chairman, and it has struck me as not an inappropriate thing to give a few facts of a retrospective character in connection with this my nineteenth annual report to the Board. At the opening of the third school quarter of the year 1878 the estimated population of the Hawke's Bay District, including Cook County, was 17,367. 'Thirty-one schools were then under the Board, at which there was an attendance of 1,763 pupils. At the end of the year just closed 68 schools were in active operation, the population of the district numbered 42,701, and 7,348 were returned as belonging to the schools at the date of my annual visit for examination. This is exclusive of the attendance at the Catholic schools in the district, 4 of which were also examined by permission of the Board. These contained 356 pupils, so that the number of children examined last year was 7,704. In 1878 Cook County had 4 schools in operation with an attendance of 303 pupils; it now has 15 schools with an attendance of 1,410 pupils. Wairoa County had 2 schools with 110 pupils ; it has now. 4 schools with 270 pupils. Hawkes Bay County, including Napier Borough, had 12 schools in 1878 with 871 pupils; it has now 17 schools with 3,065 pupils. Waipawa County, including Patangata, had 13 schools with 479 pupils; it has now 32 schools with 2,603 pupils. In 1878 the school attendance over the district represented 101 per cent, of the total population ; and for the year just closed it was 172 per cent, for Board schools only, and 18 per cent, including the attendance at the Catholic schools examined by me. The following table contains much that is of interest with respect to the educational growth of the district between the years 1878 and 1897 :—

The best attendance to the total population is in the Waipawa County, and the lowest is Hawke's Bay. The latter, however, may be accounted for by the fact that there are several private schools and, at least, two Catholic schools for which no allowance has been made. Of the school buildings belonging to the Board in 1878 only the small schoolhouse at Patangata remains, and this is in a very bad way, and is barely habitable for school purposes. In every other case new buildings have been erected either to replace the hired ones then in use or to supply the

Classes. Presented. I Examined in Standards. Passed. I Average Age of those ! that passed. Yrs. mos. ibove Standard VI. Standard VI. V. IV. „ HI. II. L 'reparatory 392 869 1,371 1,778 1,951 1,842 1,701 4,290 851 1,337 1,728 1,901 1,814 1,682 709 1,080 1,407 1,588 1,684 1,639 13 10 12 10 11 11 10 11 9 9 8 8 Totals 14,194 9,313 8,107 11 3* * Mean of average age.

1878. 1897. Counties. J I GD 1 o a a S DQ Q O CO d I ED "o o •s CO 8 <1 I XII U I Eh T3 CD 1 5-1 "p, Cook cum Waiapu ... Wairoa ... Hawke's Bay cum Napier Waipawa cum Patangata . -is eo . BfJ 4 I 2 ; 12 303 110 871 9 3 27 1 8,101 1,490 19,395 15 1,410 4 270 17 3,065 38 11 70 22 5 46 9 1 23 13 J 479 15 1 13,715 32 2,603 82 55 10 Total 17,367 31 1,763 54 42,701 68 7,348 201 128 42