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25

For the purpose of showing the tendencies in the choice of occupations by pupils leaving junior high schools, the percentages of pupils proceeding to various destinations or occupations in the past four years are shown below. As in the case of the statistics showing the destination of pupils leaving primary school, the figures relating to junior high schools, so far as ex-pupils proceeding to postprimary education are concerned, respond to the prevailing economic conditions. This would appear to be borne out by the fact that in the past few years of economic depression, with fewer opportunities of placing young boys and girls in occupations, the percentage of boys proceeding to post-primary education at another school on leaving junior high school has risen from 55 to 61, and that of girls from 54 to 60. A further feature of the comparative table shown below is the fact that the percentage of boys proceeding to agricultural or pastoral occupations on leaving junior high school has risen from 6 in 1926 to 10 in 1929.

SECONDARY EDUCATION. The Chief Inspector of Secondary Schools reports that in the secondary schools the year 1929 was one of steady application and reasonable progress so far as standard of work accomplished and methods employed were concerned. No start!ingly new method of attack or presentation was applied in the teaching of any subject, and, on the whole, the tendency was to realize that, after all, some of the older methods had in them many elements that made for soundness and thoroughness. Unfortunately, they were often of such a nature as to fail to retain, or even to arouse, the pupil's interest, and by their very thoroughness they sometimes succeeded in creating an actual distaste for the subject studied. It was only natural that following the lead and guidance of expert and earnest educationists we should adopt brighter and less rigid methods, and seek to give the pupil greater scope to develop his own aptitudes in his own way. There is a growing conviction among many teachers, however, that, as applied to some subjects, the new methods have gone a little too far in their laudable desire to escape formalism, and that, as a consequence, our school children have not the sound knowledge of certain fundamental processes that their predecessors of ten to twenty years possessed. In 1929 there were in operation forty-four secondary schools at which Government free places were held and for which the teachers' salaries, &c, were provided by the Government. Thirteen of the schools were for boys only, fifteen were for girls only, and sixteen were for both boys and girls. In addition, two boys' schools, the Wanganui Collegiate School and Christ's College Grammar School, were originally endowed with public property. There were also seventy-nine secondary departments of district high schools, fourteen technical high schools, seven organized technical or art schools offering day courses, twelve Maori secondary schools, and forty-seven registered private secondary schools. Further, of the eight junior high schools in operation during the year, two schools—namely, Kowhai and Northcote —each provided a three-year course, the last year of which was devoted to secondary instruction. There was thus a total of 207 schools providing secondary education.

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Boys. | Girls. Occupation. , 1 : ■, 1926. 1927. 1928. 1929. j 1926. 1927. 1928. 1929. I Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Per Cent. Continued full-time education .. 55 56 63 61 54 58 57 60 Commercial (clerical, typing, shop, 10 9 5 5 4 7 9 5 and warehouse) Trades .. .. 17 12, 6 9 3 3 j .. 2 Agricultural and pastoral .. 6 8 5 10 .. ! Home .. .. .. 4 8 4 4 31 25 ! 21 25 Miscellaneous .. .. .. 1 2 4 6 1 4 4 4 Not known .. .. .. 7 5 13 5 7 3 9 4 , 100 100 I 100 100 j 100 100 ' 100