E.—3.

At the 31st December, 1931, 63-5 per cent, of the 222 adult teachers were certificated. This percentage represents an increase in the number of certificated teachers of former years and should result in a marked improvement in the quality of the work, and in some cases this is already noticeable. The majority of the teachers are giving faithful and loyal service and are co-operating freely with, your Inspectors. 3. Training of Teachers. The arrangement established in 1930 for the systematic training of the junior assistants has been continued throughout 1931 with beneficial results. A number of junior assistants took correspondence courses, and in 1931 entered for the Public Service Entrance or the Teachers' Training College Entrance Examinations. All the junior assistants are required to study under the direction and supervision of the head teacher, and to prepare and give at regular intervals criticism lessons. Meetings of teachers have been regularly held on the East Coast at Ruatoria and Te Araroa, and in North Auckland at Kaikohe. In the latter centre the teachers have combined to form " The Northern Native-school Teachers' Association," the main purpose of which is the discussion of and improvement in teaching method. A case of educational literature from the Department's library was sent to different centres for distribution among the teachers, and this privilege was much appreciated by them. In 1932 an extension of this scheme is probable. Although a number of teachers subscribe to educational journals, there is still insufficient professional reading, but the meetings are doing much to arouse interest, especially in methods of teaching. A column in the Education Gazette has been allocated, to the use of Native schools and is affording an opportunity for expression, criticism, and instruction. Teachers freely responded to the invitation to contribute articles for this column. 4. Grading of Schools. For 1931 the Native schools have been graded with reference to academic efficiency, as follows: Excellent, nil; very good, 15 ; good, 28 ; very fair, 49 ; fair, 34 ; poor, 11. 5. Libraries. The library facilities in the Native schools are quite inadequate. A number of teachers raised funds by local effort fqr the purchase of easy reading-material, and the money so raised was expended on their behalf by the Department in the purchase of suitable books at special rates. The lack of larger, better-graded, and more attractive libraries is a serious handicap in the work of instruction in English. Teachers would be well advised to make the raising of funds for the purpose of library extension a feature of each year's work. During 1931 the Department reorganized its system of supply of supplementary readers. In order to obtain variety and to increase the amount of available reading-material, the present practice is to supply single copies of different books instead of sets of class readers. 6. Buildings and Grounds. One new school, Tawera Native School, was officially opened in 1931. The following major building operations were completed, two of which—Mohaka and Tangoio— were rendered necessary by the serious earthquake in Hawke's Bay : — Nuhaka : New classroom and outoffices. Te Whaiti: New classroom, shelter-shed, and outoffices. Horohoro : New school and residence. Kauangaroa : New school and residence. Mohaka : School rebuilt. Orauta : Addition of one room to residence. Tangoio : School and residence rebuilt. Tokomaru Bay : New residence. Waiomatatini: New residence. Te Teko : New classroom and remodelling. A pride in the cleanliness of the desks and of the floors of the classrooms is traditional in the Native schools, and has been maintained throughout the year at its usual high standard. In a number of schools the suitable decoration of the walls has received satisfactory attention with very pleasing results. In sharp contrast to this, there are many schools where the walls are dusty, ugly, and uninspiring. In some schools great difficulty is experienced in obtaining firewood, which it is the Committee's duty to provide free of cost. When this duty is neglected by the Committee the classrooms are usually insufficiently heated during the colder months. After a special effort initiated in 1930 the progress to be expected in ground-improvement has not been fully realized. Much has been done in many schools, where the grounds are an inspiration to the district, but the state of the Native-school grounds in general cannot yet be considered satisfactory. Many schools have lost the co-operation of the Committee and of the parents, due largely to lack of any connecting-links of a social or responsible nature between the school and pa. In quite a large number of schools the Committee is ignored, the only occasion on which it meets being at the annual

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