E,—2

6

It is confidently anticipated that next year, when the section of the Education Amendment Act above referred to becomes more widely known, and parents awake io the fact that by detaining their children from attending school for even a single day they are infringing the provisions of the Act, the standard of attendance will be even higher than it is at present. The average daily attendance, in actual numbers and as a percentage of the average weekly roll number, for each quarter of the years 1910 and 1911 was as follows :— Actual Attendance. Per Cent, of Roll. 1910. 1911. 1910. 1911. First quarter ... ... ... 134,636 143,081 87-9 91-1 Second quarter ... ... ... 134,438 140,787 873 89-0 Third quarter ... ... ... 133,984 140,038 86-7 87-9 Fourth quarter ... ... ... 139,895 144,837 88-9 89-1 Whole year ... ... 135,738 142,186 877 893 The above figures represent those actually in attendance at all public schools, including district high schools. To obtain the exact attendance of all children at primary schools subject to inspection it will be necessary to add those attending Native village schools, Chatham Islands schools, private primary schools, and the lower departments of secondary schools, and to subtract the secondary pupils attending the district high schools. We then get the following results : — ' 1911. Public schools ... ... ... ... ... ... 142,186 Native village schools ... ... ... ... ... ... 3,990 Chatham Islands schools ... ... ... ... ... 80 Private primary schools ... ... .. ... ... 14,084 Lower departments of secondary schools ... ... ... ... 244 Total ... ... ... ... ... 160,584 Less secondary departments of district high schools ... ... 1,889 Total average attendance of primary scholars ... ... ... 158,695 Age and Sex of Pupils. Table C shows the age and sex of the pupils on the rolls of the public schools of the Dominion at the end of 1911, and the percentage of the roll for each age.

Table C. —Age and Sex of Pupils, December, 1911.

It will, however, be found that Table B, on page 4, gives very much fuller information in regard to both age and sex. Age. —Of the children, 53*8 per cent, are under ten, and 46-2 per cent, are over ten. This proportion has remained constant for the past three years. Sex. —For every 100 boys on the rolls of the public schools there were 91 girls. This proportion has remained practically stationary for several years past.

1911. Percentages for Five Years. Ages. Boys. Girls. Total. 1907. 190 . 1909. 1910. 1911. 5 and under 6 years .. 6 „ 7 „ 7 „ 8 „ 8 „ 9 „ .. 9 10 „ 10 „ 11 „ 11 „ 12 „ 12 „ 13 „ 13 „ 14 „ 14 „ 15 „ 7,131 9,307 10,094 9,587 9,300 9,114 8,799 8,346 7,132 3,997 6,408 8,556 9,246 8,977 8,638 8,575 8,101 7,417 6,420 3,270 13,539 17,863 19,340 18,564 17,938 17,689 16,900 15,763 13,552 7,267 80 10-5 11-6 11-1 11-4 11-3 110 10-5 8-7 40 8-2 10-6 11-7 11-3 11-0 11-2 10-9 10-4 8-4 4-2 8-7 10-8 11-6 11-4 11-2 10-7 10 6 10-2 8-5 4-3 8-4 11-2 11-5 11-4 11-3 10-9 10-2 10-0 8-5 4-5 8-4 11-1 12-0 11-5 11-1 10-9 10-5 9-6 8-4 4-5 15 and over 82,807 1,755 75,608 1,478 158,415 8,233 98-1 1-9 97-9 2-1 98-0 2-0 97-9 2-1 980 2-0 Totals .. 84,562 77,086 161,648 100-0 100-0 100-0 1000 1000