E.—2

6

Wairarapa.— The schools in this district are managed in the same way as those in the South Island. Te Ore Ore has suffered to some extent through a change of masters, and from the thorough unsuitability of the building used as a schoolroom. The examination results were only moderate; this, however, will be a good school eventually. The new school at Papawai is doing well; it had been but a short time in operation when it was visited, and very striking results were not to be expected. The master works hard, and will probably be a successful teacher. South Island and Stewart Island. —These schools are under the direct supervision of the department ; communication with them is easy, and the services of District Superintendents are not required in connection with them. Waikawa labours under some disadvantage; the attendance is not exactly irregular, but it is discontinuous ; at certain times of the year the elder children have to go away from school whaling, shearing, mustering, or harvesting. In spite of this the master manages to get a high percentage and a large number of passes. The only defect noticeable here is some want of neatness in the schoolroom. The Committee will probably get this matter remedied. Wairau did not appear to advantage. Sickness had made the attendance irregular, and the examination results were consequently only fair. This is ordinarily a satisfactory little school. Mangamaunu had made fair progress; it had been somewhat affected by the excitement of the Natives about a murder that had taken place in the kainga a short time before. This event had to a considerable extent taken up the attention of the children, and prevented them from giving their minds to the work of the school. Kaiapoi was very satisfactory. This is now one of the best Native schools. Little Eiver appeared to be doing better; the examination results were very fair. The Committee might with advantage take steps to make the schoolroom somewhat neater than it is. Bapaki always makes a good appearance at examinations ; this time it did particularly well. lam inclined to think that, in one sense, it was rather too good; young children were presented for Standards 111. and IV. who should have been working at least one standard lower. These children passed; of course, this speaks well for the master's skill and industry, but I doubt whether it is good for the children to work so very hard, and so long after school hours, as they must have done to enable them to pass as they did. If this sort of thing should continue it might be necessary that a limit of age should be fixed below which children should not be examined for the higher standards. At Onuku the difficulty referred to in last year's report had been got over, and the inspection and examination gave satisfactory results. Waikouaiti is another of the best class of schools; the master, while he does the ordinary work well, manages to develop the reasoning powers of his pupils to quite a remarkable extent. At Otago Heads the Maori attendance has fallen off somewhat ; this is an excellent school. Port Molyneux obtained a high percentage and numerous passes; this is a small school, but a very good one. Eiverton had improved; the results were considerably higher than those obtained at the previous examination. Colac Bay gave only pretty fair results this year, but there is reason to hope that it will soon regain its former position. Euapuke acts as a sort of feeder to the school at the Neck; young children that could hardly be sent over to Stewart Island receive a certain amount of training at Euapuke; they are then transferred to the larger school, where they make rapid progress. The school at the Neck ranks along with those at Otago Heads, Waikouaiti, &c. It is doing most useful work, and nearly always makes a good appearance at examination time. The schools in the South Island continue to be more advanced than those in the North, but year by year the best Northern schools are approaching more nearly the standard that has been reached by the best of those in the South. On the whole it is gratifying to be able to say that encouraging progress has been made in spite of serious drawbacks in some of the districts; these drawbacks have already been referred to. Teachers. At the end of 1882 there were employed, as head-teachers, in Native schools, fifty-six masters and six mistresses; there were also employed, as second teachers, nineteen mistresses or assistants and thirty-seven sewing-mistresses. It has been said that teachers may be divided into four classes: those who understand their work and are anxious to do it; those who know how to work but do not do it; inexperienced teachers who wish to become competent; and teachers who neither know how to teach nor wish to know. Our teachers almost all belong to the first or the third of these classes. Native school work is not to be mastered in a day; the difficulties are numerous and peculiar, and to be overcome only by actual workers in Maori schools. All those who enter this branch of the profession have very much to learn, whether they have had previous experience in European schools or not. As, however, there is very little to distract a native-school teacher's attention, he soon begins to get over the main difficulties, if he is anxious to learn the work; he soon finds that apparently formidable obstacles may be overcome. Any way, it is found that new men who put heart into the work, after they have once taken a class through each of the four standards, become fairly efficient teachers, in a few cases it has happened that a master has given in after an effort or two, thinking that he would probably "pull through somehow." Such a master never does pull through. On the whole there is, I think, every reason to be satisfied with the staff employed in the schools; it would probably be difficult to get a set of teachers better suited for the work they have to perform. There is one gratifying fact that ought to be mentioned. It was formerly not easy to get good teachers; there is now no difficulty whatever in getting suitable persons of respectable attainments to take charge of Native schools. liras quite a mistake to suppose that, while clever, active men are required for European schools, any one that can speak English fairly will do for a native-school teacher. For obvious* reasons the responsibilities of a teacher of a Maori school are far greater than those of a teacher of Europeans. If a master of a European school prove to be a failure another man may take his place and the school will suffer but little; a bad master in a Native school may easily cause the utter and final ruin of his school, and render its re-establishment impossible. If