H.—lf

1880. NEW ZEALAND.

EDUCATION: NATIVE SCHOOLS.

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by command of His Excellency.

THE NATIVE SCHOOLS CODE. This code of Rules and Regulations is published for the guidance of .Native School Teachers, and of others concerned in the education of the Maori race. I.—THE ESTABLISHMENT OF NEW SCHOOLS. (1.) If at least ten Maoris, actually residing in any locality, petition the Minister for Education for a Native School, and if they, or any of them, offer to give at least two acres of land suitable for a school site, and promise, further, to make such contribution in money or in kind towards the cost of school buildings as the Minister may require, the Government may establish a school in that locality ; provided that (1) the Organizing Inspector of Native Schools report favourably on the site offered ; (2) that the Natives give the Government a proper title to the site ; and (3) that they satisfy the Government that the district will keep up an average attendance of thirty at the school. (2.) When the preliminaries have been satisfactorily settled, the Government will provide a schoolhouse and a teacher's residence suited to the wants of the district. The whole of the land will be properly fenced in, and a plot of ground about one quarter of an acre in extent will be enclosed with a neat picket fence for a garden. The teacher will be expected to keep this constantly in good order, and to make it, if possible, the model garden of the village. lI.—TEACHERS. (1.) Suitable persons will be selected to take charge of the schools. As a rule the Government will appoint a married couple, the husband to act as master of the school, and the wife as sewing mistress. The master will be expected to teach the native children to read and write the English language, and to speak it. He will, further, instruct them in the rudiments of arithmetic and of geography, and, generally, endeavour to give them such culture as may fit them to become good citizens. (2.) It is not intended that the duties of the teacher should be confined to the mere school instruction of the Maori children. On the contrary, it is expected that the teachers will by their kindness, their diligence, and their probity, exercise a beneficial influence on all the natives in their district. (A circular dealing more fully with this matter than it can be dealt with in a code of regulations has been sent to all the teachers of Native Schools.) (3.) It is not necessary thac teachers should, at the time of their appointment, be acquainted with the Maori tongue. In all cases English is to ,be used by the teacher when he is instructing the senior classes. In the junior classes the Maori language maybe used for the purpose of making the children acquainted with the meanings o± English words and sentences. The aim of the teacher, however, should be to dispense with the use of Maori as soon as possible. (4.) In all cases teachei's will be expected to live in the houses provided for them, unless their residing elsewhere has been sanctioned by the Department. lII.—CONDUCT OF THE SCHOOL. (1.) In every Native School there shall be a time table used. This document is to be hung up in a conspicuous position in the school-room, and its directions are to be always strictly followed. Every item of school work shall begin and end exactly at the time indicated in the time table. If the teacher find that he cannot work by the table, he should alter it, and continue to do so until the precepts of the document and the actual work done are in thorough accord. (2.) The master shall keep the school register correctly, and shall post his quarterly returns within fourteen days after the end of each quarter. Any infringment of this rule will be very strictly dealt with. No salary will be paid to any teacher if and so long as his returns are more than one month in arrear. (3.) Teachers will be required to instruct the children in the subjects mentioned in the Standards set forth in the 4th section of this code. Teachers should endeavour to make the instruction as thorough as possible. Quality rather than quantity is the thing required. Especially while giving their English lessons should teachers bear this in mind. No reading lesson should be looked upon as finally disposed of until all the children thoroughly know the meaning of every sentence and word in it, and, in the case of senior