E.—IB

18 8 3. NEW ZEALAND.

EDUCATION. REPORTS OF INSPECTORS OF SCHOOLS. [In Continuation of E.-1b., 1882.]

Presented to ooih Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

[It has not been thought necessary to print in all cases the tables, and those portions of the reports that relate only to particular schools.]

AUCKLAND. Sib,— Auckland, March, 1883. I have the honour to submit this report for the year ended 31st December, 1882. The number of primary schools in the education district and the attendance of pupils are given in the following table : —■

The attendance was injuriously affected by the sickness which was prevalent during a great part of the year. The question of the age of candidates for scholarships lias come before the Board on several occasions. I append various reports I have written on the subject in accordance with the instructions of the Board. It seems plain that the idea of making boys begin the study of the classics very early arose from the notion that it was necessary to make learners spend a great number of years in the study of Greek and Latin. This notion has now been given up by the most enlightened authorities on the subject. Three or four years are now found enough for the work to which eight or more were formerly given. On this point the writings of Mr. Fitch, Mr. D'Arcy Thompson, and many others may be consulted. See Fitch's " Lectures on Teaching," chapter viii., and Thompson's " Day-dreams of a Schoolmaster."* It seems to me plain that, if the years devoted to the study of the classics can be shortened, the assumed necessity for beginning to study them at an early age disappears, and with it the assumed necessity for maiming the course of primary instruction. We need not quote Professor Huxley to prove that primary subjects are seldom, if ever, taught well in secondary schools. The report of the Principal of the Training College will show the nature of the work done in the College by means of it during the past year. It will be seen that the influence of the College is not confined, within its walls, but extends itself very much further. ■

* The following is from the Saturday Review, 10th February last: "With respect to the folly of causing boys at such an^early age to go through competitive examinations, the Lancet says, ' There can be no room to question the extreme peril of "overwork" to children and youth with undeveloped brains. The excessive use of an immature organ arrests its development by diverting the energy which should be appropriated to its growth, and consuming it in work.' And Dr. Crichton Browne says yet more emphatically : 'By submitting little boys of twelve or thirteen to competitive examination in the mere school-work, we may be able to select those of the quickest wits and most susceptible of "cram ;" but we should certainly not bring to the front those with the greatest grasp of intellect and force of character. To institute such examinations at such an age seems to me to be offering a premium on precocity, which is either the characteristic of au inferior order of mind or the vice of a fine but fragile organization. It seems often to be forgotten that the children of savages walk and talk and attain every sfep in development earlier than do those of civilized races. Lower organisms are more rapidly evolved and reach complete evolution sooner than higher ones ; and in any competitive examinations, instituted in the first decade of life, .European infants would be put to shame by negro infanta, or even bv the progeny of the Australian aborigines. And the same biological law holds good amongst individuals of the same race, those of greater mass and complexity being slower in reaching maturity than those of simpler and feebler mental structure. The premature activity of the brain exhausts its strength or sets up bodily degeneration.' " This is a significant commentary on certain recommade to the Board.

mendations recently I—E. 18.

Quarter ending No. of Schools. Roll Numbi sr. A\< !ra.go Attem lance. larch 31 une 30 epteinber 30 ... )ecember 31 211 213 211 209 M. 8,429 8,498 8,353 8,304 7,825 7,829 7,676 7,797 Total. 16,254 16,327 16,029 16,101 M. 6,658 6,313 0,129 6,595 P. 6,038 5 657 5,457 6,016 Total. 12.096 11,970 11,586 12,641