E.—l

6

to submit schedules of their proposals in the order of their urgency ; but as these have been received by the Department in one or two cases only, grants cannot be allocated with due regard to the necessities of the cases within any district and also to the relative needs of one district as compared with those of another. Roll Number. (Tables Bl and B2 in E-2.) The number of children in attendance at public schools in 1919, as shown by the mean of the average weekly roll for the four quarters of the year, was 193,655, which exceeds the figure for the previous year by 1-2 per cent. Trie following figures give in detail the average weekly roll and the roll number at the end of 1919 :—

The percentage increase in the average weekly roll has been declining during recent years, the figures for the last six years being as follows : 1914, 3-6 per cent. ; 1915, 3-2 per cent. ; 1916, 1-6 per cent. ; 1917, 2-1 per cent. ; 1918, 1-8 per cent. ; 1919, 1-2 per cent. It is in the schools of the South Island that the falling-off in the increase is most marked, the percentage increase in 1919 being only 0-6, while in the North Island (including Marlborough) the figure was 1-6. The falling-off in the number of entrants noticed in 1918 did not recur in 1919, there being 1,000 more children between the ages of five and seven than in the previous year, and 2,800 more children in the preparatoiy classes. There were fewer children in Si, S2, and S6 than in the previous year, the decrease in numbers to the extent of over 1,000 in S6 pupils being especially regrettable. The table below shows the mean average roll number for every fifth year from 1878 to 1908, and for each of the last ten years ; the table gives also the total average attendance for each year, the average attendance as a percentage of the roll (including secondary departments of high schools), and the number of teachers employed in the public schools.

Schools, Attendance, and Teachers.

The above figures relate to public schools. To estimate the total number of children receiving primary education in the Dominion it will be necessary to

Mean of Average Weekly Roll. Roll Number at end of Year. Including Second- Exoluding Second- Including Second- Excluding Secondary Departments ary Departments ary Departments ary Departments of District High of District High of District High i of District High Schools. Sohools. Schools. Schools. ear 1919 .. .. "77 193,655 191,153 196,059 193,900 ear 1918.. .. .. 191,382 188,932 194,934 192,680 Increase in 1919 .. 2,273 2,221 1,125 1,220 2,273 2,221 1,125 1,220 Increase per cent, in 1919 T2 1-2 0-6 0-6 1-2 1-2 0-6 0-6

| Number Year. of Schools. ! __ Average mean Average ' Attendance w i i Attendance, j as PorcentweeKiy whole Yo ar. I age of K01i - Weekly Roll. Number of Adults. reachers. I'upil-toachi ers. M. F. Total. M. F. Total. 1878 .. 1883 .. 1888 .. 1893 .. 1898 .. 1903 .. 1908 .. 1910 .. 1911 .. 1912 .. 1913 .. 1914 .. 1915 .. 1916 .. 1917 .. 1918 .. 1919 .. 748 971 .. 1,158 .. 1,375 .. 1,655 .. 1,786 .. 1,998 .. 2,096 .. 2,166 .. 2,214 .. 2,255 .. 2,301 .. 2,338 .. 2,355 .. 2,368 .. 2,365 .. 2,400 90,859 113,636 125,692 133,782 134,748 145,974 154,756 159,299 164,492 169,530 175,570 181,229 184,056 187,954 191,382 193,655 *48,773 69,838 t90,108 J100.32I 111,036 113,047 127,160 135,738 142,186 146,282 151,242 158,134 163,092 163,156 168,711 169,836 174,885 76-9 79-3 79-8 83-4 83-9 87-1 87-7 89-3 88-9 89-2 90-1 90-0 88-0 89-8 88-7 90-3 707 905 1,039 1.107 1,234 1,270 1,331 1.456 1,493 1,555 1,603 1,628 1,591 1,501 1,383 1,366 1,006 454 656 887 1,096 1,370 1,726 2,021 2,252 2,351 2,550 2,059 2,820 3,077 3,209 3,224 3,452 3,394 1,161 1,561 1,926 2,203 2,604 2,996 3,352 3,708 3,844 4,105 4,262 4,448 4,668 4,710 4,707 4,818 5,000 118 332 159 571 219 694 238 825 229 831 147 552 161 476 174 526 179 528 162 476 142 474 139 470 141 485 137 519 132 517 123 523 123 503 118 159 219 238 229 147 161 174 179 162 142 139 141 137 132 123 123 450 730 913 1.063 1,060 699 637 §700 §707 §638 §616 §609 §620 §650 §649 §640 §626 * Average of threo quarti )l-8. 1 Strict averagi t Working average. § Exclusive of male and female probationers.