E.-l.

25. ENDOWED SCHOOLS AND REGISTERED PRIVATE SECONDARY SCHOOLS. The following table summarizes the returns furnished by endowed schools and registered private secondary schools with respect to the years 1932 and 1933 :—

Table T.

26. CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOL. First established in 1922, for the purpose of providing for the education of the children in remote localities, the Correspondence School has steadily developed until there are now nearly 1,700 pupils on the roll. This number includes some pupils resident in urban areas who are unable to attend school by reason of physical disability. The subjects of instruction include, in the primary department, all of the subjects of the syllabus prescribed for the public schools, with the exception of physical drill and singing ; and in the secondary department, English, history and civics, geography, Latin, French, arithmetic, algebra, geometry, agriculture and general science, home science, book-keeping, drawing, hygiene, and needlecraft, to University Entrance Examination or School Certificate standard. The Correspondence School is regularly inspected by the Department's primary and secondary Inspectors, whose reports show that the standard of education attained by the pupils compares favourably with that of public schools. Although the success of a school cannot wholly be gauged from examination results, the Correspondence School, judged from that standard alone, has fully justified its existence. Through its agency over three hundred pupils have qualified for junior free places in post-primary schools since the first candidates were presented for the Proficiency Certificate Examination ten years ago. In 1933, 53 gained Proficiency Certificates, 25 were awarded intermediate certificates, and 6 passed the University Entrance Examination. Much has been done to provide for the pupils of the Correspondence School the extra-class-room activities of ordinary school life. Three companies of girl guides and two troops of boy scouts have been organized, besides a number of clubs and societies, for those interested in philately, photography, meccano, native bird and plant life, and overseas pen-friendships. The school also possesses a carefully selected and graded circulating library of over two thousand books, and publishes an annual magazine, The Postman, which consists chiefly of contributions from the pupils in verse, prose, sketches, and photography.

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1932. I 1933. 1 | Number of schools .. .. .. .. 54 55 Roll at 1st July .. .. .. .. 4,372 4,224 Average attendance .. .. .. .. 4,115 3,974 Teachers (inclusive of Principals)— Men .. .. .. .. .. 123 132 Women .. .. .. .. .. 154 161 Total .. .. .. 277 293