I

1902. NEW ZEALAND.

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

Office of the Department of Education, My Lord, — Wellington, Ist August, 1902. I have the honour, in accordance with the provisions of " The Education Act, 1877," to submit to Your Excellency the following report upon the progress and condition of public education in New Zealand during the year ending the 31st day of December, 1901. I have, &c, W. C. WALKEE. His Excellency the Eight Hon. the Earl of Eanfurly, Governor of New Zealand.

EEPOET.

In this Eeport and its proper Appendix, in the Inspector-General's Eeport (E.-1a) on the certificate examinations, the Eeports of the Inspectors of Schools (E.-1b), a Eeport by Mr. Inspector Goyen on State Education in Australia (E.-lc), and the Eeport on the Organization of the Public-school Cadets (E.-1d), is contained all the information that is of public interest with respect to the administration of " The Education Act, 1877," and " The Education Eeserves Act, 1877," and also all the principal statistics relating to matters which are more fully treated of in separate papers, as follows: E.-2, Native Schools; E.-3, Industrial Schools; E.-3a, Costley Training Institution; E.-4, School for Deaf-mutes; E.-5, Manual and Technical Instruction; E.-6, New Zealand University; E.-7, University of Otago; E.-8, Canterbury College; E.-9, Auckland University College; E.-10, Victoria College; E.-11, Canterbury Agricultural College; E.-12, Secondary Schools; E.-12a, Ehodes' Scholarships ; E.-13, Public Libraries. Pupils in Public Schools. There have been since 1893 two methods of calculating the average attendance at any given school. To find the one, called the " strict average," account has been taken of all the half-days on which the school has been open ; the other, the "working average," has been found by omitting from the calculation all those half-days on which less than half the number on the roll are present. It having been finally decided to adopt the working average as the basis of payments to Boards and of all tables and returns, that average has become the only average recognised, and the strict average has disappeared. The total average attendance for the whole colony continues to improve. For the year 1899 the working average was 110,316; for 1900 it was 111,747; i—E. 1.

EDUCATION: TWENTY-FIFTH ANNUAL EEPOET OF THE MINISTEE OF EDUCATION. [In continuation of E.-l, 1901.]