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the present means of giving secondary education to children of Native schools. One hundred scholarships were being held at the end of 1907, of which forty were held by boys and the remainder by girls. Maori boys attending public schools may also, under regulations, be granted scholarships of this kind, and two were being held at the end of the year. Further, six Maori boys from Native schools and one from a public school were holding industrial scholarships and working as apprentices at various trades. Six Maori girls are receiving training at various hospitals, with a view to their working as nurses among their own people; three of these are probationers on the hospital staff, and the others are day-pupils attending the hospitals as pupils from one or other of the boarding-schools. Three University scholarships are being held at present, one in Law, one in Arts, and one in Medicine. The number of workshops in the village schools is now twelve, two having been closed; two more will be opened shortly. There has been an increase also in the number of schools at which instruction in domestic duties is given, and elementary practical agriculture now forms a subject of instruction in Native schools, at many of which school gardens have been established. The Native-school code has been revised, the syllabus of instruction being amended so as to approximate to that of the public schools. It is expected that the compilation of the code in its complete form will be published shortly. The total expenditure during the year, including £97 Is. Bd. paid from Native school reserves and £800 from the Tauranga Educational Reserves Fund, was £31,783 Bs. 7d. Deducting recoveries, £291 4s. 3d., the result is a net expenditure of £31,492 4s. 4d., as against £29,681 in 1906. Included in this amount is £3,340 for new buildings and additions and £2,627 for secondary education, including boarding - school fees for holders of scholarships from village schools, University scholarships, and apprenticeships. The new scale of staffs and salaries has caused an increase of £3,653 in the expenditure on this account. Part of this increase is, however, to be accounted for by the fact that in cases where through the operation of the new scale a reduction in salary would have been effected the salary was kept up, for one year, to the former rate. The staffs of the village schools included eighty-one masters, nineteen mistresses in charge, 107 assistants, and three sewing-teachers. Of the 4,183 children attending Native schools at the end of 1907, 78-8 were Maori or nearly Maori, 7-9 were half-castes speaking Maori in their homes, 3-4 were half-castes or nearly so speaking English in their homes, and 99 per cent, were Europeans. At the end of the year there were in the preparatory classes 1,711 children : in Standard I, 561; Standard 11, 581; Standard 111, 530; Standard IV, 422; Standard V, 254; and Standards VI-VII, 124. Of the Maori children in the highest standards, one gained a certificate of proficiency and six certificates of competency during the year. There were 418 European children in Native schools, of whom 292 were in various standard classes, fifty being in Standards VI and VII. Six certificates of proficiency and five of competency were gained by European children in these classes during the year. Of the 3,988 children of Maori or mixed race attending public schools 60-7 per cent, were of Maori race, 5-9 per cent, were of mixed race living as Maoris, and 33-4 per cent, were of mixed race living as Europeans. Seventeen certificates of competency and thirty of proficiency were obtained during the year. Early in the present year the Minister visited the Native schools in the East Coast, Bay of Plenty, and Taupo districts, and also some of the South Island schools, and was well satisfied with their efficiency and general management, and very favourably impressed with the appearance of the children. Industrial Schools. There were seven Government and four private industrial schools in existence in 1907, the latter being all in connection with the Roman Catholic Church.

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