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1907. NEW ZEALAND.

EDUCATION: NATIVE SCHOOLS. [In continuation of E.-2, 1906.]

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

No. 1. EXTRACT FROM THE THIRTIETH ANNUAL REPORT OP THE MINISTER OP EDUCATION. At the end of 1906 there were one hundred village schools, as against ninetyfive at the end of 1905. Five new schools were opened during the year, at the end of which all the schools, with the exception of two, were in full operation. The new schools opened were Tautoro, in the Bay of Islands district; Oparure, in the King Country ; Kaiwhata, east coast of Wellington ; Waimarama and Tuhara, in Hawke's Bay. Owing to decreased attendance one school— Waiotapu —was closed. In several schools increased attendance has necessitated building additions, and at the present time four new schools—Tuhara, Motiti Island, Wharekawa, and Mataora —are in hand. The total roll number on 31st December, 1906, was 4,174, as against 3,863 in 1905; the average attendance for the year being 3,607 —an increase of 179 on that of the previous year. In at least one-third of the schools the average attendance exceeded 90 per cent, of the roll number, while the average obtained by all the schools—Bs-2 per cent. —is to be regarded as very satisfactory when bearing in mind the peculiar conditions attaching to Maori schools. In addition to the village schools there are six mission schools which are annually inspected and examined by the Department's officers. These are Otaki, Putiki, Te Hauke, Matata Convent, Tokaanu, and Waerenga-a-hika. The roll numbers at the time of the Inspector's visit were: Otaki, 34; Putiki, 30; Te Hauke, 29; Matata, 36; Tokaanu, 28 ; and Waerenga-a-hika, 43. For the higher education of Maori boys and girls the Department avails itself of six boarding-schools under the control and management of various church authorities viz., Te Aute College and St. Stephen's School, for boys; Hukarere, St. Joseph's, Queen Victoria, and Turakina Girls' School, for girls. The Government offers 123 scholarships, tenable at one or other of the boarding-schools, to such children of predominantly Maori race as qualify for them in the village schools. At the end of 1906 forty of these scholarships were held by boys and forty by girls. A number of scholarships is also offered to Maori children attending public schools who pass at least Standard V before reaching the age of fifteen. -The holders of these may attend a secondary school or become apprenticed to a suitable trade. Three of these scholarships were current at the end of the year —one boy attending a secondary school and two boys being apprenticed. Three boys who formerly attended Native schools were also, at the end of the year, learning trades under this arrangement,

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