E.— I

8

The provisions of the Education Amendment Act, 1910, require every child between the ages of seven and fourteen years (with certain exemptions) to attend a public school whenever it is open. There is no doubt that the influence of this law has resulted in the still further increase in the percentage of average attendance. The average daily attendance in actual numbers and as a percentage of the average weekly roll number, for each quarter of the years 1912 and 1913 was as follows :— Average Attendance. Per Cent, of Roll. 1912. 1913. 1912. 1913. First quarter .. .. ..146,395 151,223 90-2 90-5 Second quarter .. .. .. 144,854 151,057 88-6 89-7 Third quarter .. .. .. 144,475 149,218 87-7 87-9 Fourth quarter .. .. .. 149,402 153,471 89-3 88-6 Whole year.. .. .. 146,282 151,242 88-9 89-2 The figures given above represent those in attendance at all public schools including district high schools. The following figures represent the total number of children in average attendance at schools giving primary instruction subject to inspection. 1912. 1913. Public schools .. .. .. ..- ..146,282 151,242 Native village schools .. .. .. .. 4,042 4,142 Chatham Island schools .. .. .. .. 79 82 Private primary schools .. ' .. .. .. 12,086 13,513 Lower departments of secondary schools .. .. 258 307 Special schools .. .. .. .. .. 801 780 Totals .. .. .. .. .. 163,548 170,066 Less secondary departments of district high schools .. 1,851 1,883 Total average attendance of primary scholars .. .. 161,697 168,183 Age and Sex of Pupils. (E.-2.—Table 01.) Table C shows the age and sex of the pupils on the rolls of the public schools of the Dominion at the end of 1913, and the percentage of the roll for each age.

Table C.—Age and Sex of Pupils, December, 1913.

Table B on page 6 gives fuller information as to age and sex. Age. —s4 per cent, of the children are under ten, and 46 per cent, are over that age. The proportion remains stationary. Sex. —ln December, 1913, for every 100 boys on the roll there were 91 girls. During the last few years there has been very little change in the proportion. The census returns for 1911 disclosed the fact that there were 100 boys between five and

Ages. 1913. Boys. Girls. Total. 1913. Percentages for Five Years. 1909. 1910. 1911. 1912. 1913. 5 and under 6 years .. 6 „ 7 ' „ I „ 8 „ .. 8 „ 9 „ .. 9 10 „ .. .0 11 „ II 12 , .. 12 „ 13 „ .3 14 „ .4 15 „ .. 7,318 9,499 10,476 10,573 10,486 9,622 9,449 9,035 7,593 4,080 6,515 8,835 9,819 9,696 9,585 9,174 8,683 8,442 6,825 3,279 13,833 18,334 20,295 20,269 20,071 18,796 18,132 17,477 14,418 7,359 8-7 10-8 11-6 11-4 11-2 10-7 10-6 10-2 8-5 4-3 8-4 11-2 115 11-4 11-3 10-9 10-2 10-0 8-5 4-5 8-4 11-1 120 11-5 11-1 109 10-5 9-6 8-4 4-5 7-9 10-9 11-9 11-9 11-2 108 10-7 10-2 8-2 4-3 80 10-6 11-8 11-8 11-7 10-9 10-5 10-2 8-4 4-3 L5 and over 88,131 1,730 80,853 1,454 168,984 3,184 98-0 2-0 97-9 21 98-0 ■2-0 98-0 2-0 98-2 1-8 Totals .. 89,861 82,307 172,168 100-00 10000 100-00 100-00 10000