E.—l

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Classification, Age, and Examination of Pupils. (E.-2, Tables 01-00.) (Classification of Pupils. The classification of school-children is for the most part carried out by the teachers, the Inspectors of Schools advising and assisting inexperienced teachers in the work. The Inspectors comment on the tendency to retain pupils too long in the preparatory classes, and also to demand too high a standard of proficiency before allowing them to enter S6. The practice of experimenting to excess with children in higher classes than they are fitted for and degrading them shortly before the Inspector's visit is condemned, as is also the mistake often made in small schools of promoting pupils against the teacher's better judgment on account of pressure brought to bear by parents. The subject of the classification of pupils and of the time that should be spent on the various stages of education is receiving a great deal of attention in America and other countries, some of the general opinions expressed being to the effect that classifying according to age leads to errors of classification that should be corrected by applying some such mentality test as the BinetSimon test, and that there is need for economy in the time expended on the general elementary curriculum. The table below sets forth the ages and classification of the pupils of public schools in the Dominion :—

Classified Return of the Numbers on the Rolls of Public Schools at the end of 1916.

If the pupil begins his school life at the age of five years, and spends two years in the preparatory classes and one year in each succeeding standard, he should pass out of S6 at the age of thirteen years. It is found, however, that the average age for each class is about one year higher than would be the case if these conditions were universal. This is largely due, no doubt, to the entrance age being very often higher than five years. The figures within the heavy ruled lines in the table indicate children whose classification may be regarded as normal in comparison with the average ages prevailing. For example, nine years is the average age in Si at the end of the year, therefore children between the ages of eight and ten years in that standard may be regarded as falling wuthin the limits of a normal classification. The numbers above the upper heavy horizontal lines in the table indicate classification above normal and represent the brighter children, and those below the lower horizontal lines indicate classification below normal representing cases of retardation. It is not possible from the tabic to show cases above normal classification in the preparatory classes, or cases of retardation in S7.

Class P. Standard I. Ages. Boys. Girls. Boys. Girls. 5 and under 6.. 7,752 6,944 1 1 6 „ 7 .. 10,185 9,284 116 151 7 „ 8 .. 9,368 8,672 1,581 1,660 Standard II. Boys, j Girls. Standard III. Boys. Girls. Standard IV. Boys. Girls. Standard V. Boys. Girls. Boys. Girls. Boys. Standard VI. Boys. Standard VII Girls. Totals. Boys. Girls. 7,753 6,945 1 151 6 6 10,307 9,441 1,660 147 166 5 2 11,101 10,500 8 „ 9 .. 5,097 4,333 4,5624,418 1,493 1,472 158 161 6 12 4 11,32010,396 4,562 4,418 3,694 3,348 1,315 1,387 127 132 7 o 2 10,774 10,089 9 „ 10 .. 1,673 1,315 3,6943,348 1,315 3,954 3,900 9 2 .. 10 „ II .. 462 372 1,5001,286 372 1,500 1,286 3,596 3,346 3,730j |3,558 I 1,196 i|l,257 163 144 6 5 .. 6 10,653 9,968 [1 „ 12 .. 163 125 543 414 125 543 414 1,686 1,412 3,430; 3,206 3,387 3,312 1,043 1,153 132 105 1 4 132 2 10,388 9,729 12 „ .1.3 .. 84 50 143 159 13 „ 14 .. 29 20 54 48 14 „ 15 .. 12 7 12 14 50 20 143 54 159 48 681 219 442 166 1,806 757 1,651 551 3,360 '2,972 1,512 3,118 2,995 3.009 2,750 9081,000 44 2,207|2,194 203 l,748|l,797 362 689. 627 524 5,6925,7281,137 908 42 211 10,144 9,325 8,293 7,452 1,829 7 12 14 51 35 179 115 607 395 1,288 1,014 394 4,259 3,771 Dver 15 .... 3 22 3 2 2 7 4 24 10 108 74 321 215 666 1,675 1.601 Totals, 1916 .. 34,825 31,12512,20811501 31,125 12,208 11501 10949 11404 10641 10620 9,666 8,941 8,292 1,315 96,667 89,217 11840