E.—3

2

Applications for new buildings or class-rooms at the following places are now under consideration : Whungaparaoa (Bay of Plenty), Werowero (Doubtless Bay), Ruatoki (Whakatane), Whakarewarewa (Rotorua), Te Teko (Whakatane), Manukau (Hokianga), Whakarara (Whangaroa). During the year 1929 only one application was received for the establishment of a new school, that at Te Werenga, Hokianga. It has been considered advisable to defer the establishment of a school here until the consolidation of the land has been effected by the Maori Land Board. Maori Mission Schools. The following Mission Schools, established and conducted by various religious authorities and registered as primary schools, are inspected by the Inspectors of Native Schools : Whakarapa, Pawarenga, and Waitaruke Convents (North Auckland), Matata Convent (Bay of Plenty), Tokaanu Convent (Taupo), Jerusalem and Ranana Convent Schools (Wanganui River), Tanatana and Matahi Mission Schools (Urewera), Putiki Mission School, Wanganui. The total number on the roll of these schools was 532. On the whole, the standard of work reached in them is very satisfactory. Maori Secondary Schools. In the early years of Maori education, the education of the Maori child was provided in central boarding-schools, the Government granting funds to the principal denominations engaged in the work, and, in cases, setting aside, with the consent of the Maoris, lands to be held in trust by these Church authorities for educational purposes. Of these, St. Stephen's Boys' School (Parnell, Auckland) and Te Aute and Waerenga-a-hika Colleges (Hawke's Bay), St. Joseph's Convent (Napier) still survive from the original number. Established at later periods are Hukarere Girls' School (Napier), Victoria Girls' School (Auckland), Otaki Maori College (Otaki), Turakina Maori Girls' College (Marton), Hikurangi Boys' College (Wairarapa), Paerata (Wesleyan) College (Auckland). Government assistance to these is provided in the form of free places, tenable for two years, for a number of pupils qualified from the Native village schools and a limited number for Maori pupils from public schools. In addition, the Maori Purposes Control Board awards twenty-five Continuation Scholarships, of which approximately seventeen are allotted to the above colleges. From my own experience with Maori people, extending now over some thirty years, I can speak with confidence of the important- part these institutions have played in the development of the people. Their influence is shown in every village, and the present leaders of thought and enterprise amongst the people are their ex-pupils. Attendance, etc. Native Village Schools. —At the end of the year 1929 there were 6,979 pupils on the rolls of the village schools, as compared with 6,671 at the end of 1928. The average weekly roll number was 6,955, and the percentage of regularity was 89-9. In several schools the average attendance reached over 90 per cent, of the possible. Considering the localities in which the schools are placed, the attendance must be regarded as comparing very favourably with that of the public schools, the average percentage of attendance in which is 90-9. The increase in roll number is also interesting. It shows, first, that the Maori population, if not increasing, is holding its own, and next that there is a growing desire amongst the Maoris for education. When the Department took over the schools in 1880 the roll number was 1,042. Some twenty years ago it was considered that the Maori race was passing away, and the Native-schools system was even suggested -as one of the causes contributing to their physical decay. Time has, however, shown the view to be entirely wrong ; the number of children on the roll, which was then 4,183, is now 6,734, and I confidently believe that the Native schools have materially added to the physical well-being as well as to the intellectual progress of the Maori. The following table furnishes a summary of the position in attendance at all the schools specially connected with Maori education : —

Conditions of Buildings and Grounds. The Inspectors report that in the majority of the schools the care bestowed upon the cleanliness of the school is most creditable to both teachers and committee. While they think that the teachers are to be congratulated on maintaining a very high standard of cleanliness, they wish to draw attention to the lack of use of pictorial and other aesthetic aids in the decoration of the class-rooms. The interior walls in many cases present a bare and uninviting appearance, which cannot but affect the child's attitude to his school and school activities. In some schools much has been done to brighten the room by the use of pictures and friezes, which provide also subject-matter for conversation work.

. i ... .... .. o , , [ NnmW I Roll at. End Average Weekly Average Percentage of ! ' of Year. Roll Number. Attendance. Regularity. I I I I Native village .. .. 137 6,979 6,955 6,252 89-9 Native mission .. .. 10 532 532 460 86-6 Native secondary .. .. 12 533 533 512 96-0 159 8,044 8,020 7,224 90-1