B.—lb

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the Norsewood School District, who are kept from school in consequence of the inoperativeness of the Education Act, which the Committee have introduced, but which has been found to be unworkable. Should clause 6of the amended Education Act of 1885 be carried out, as I sincerely trust it will be, by School Committees, the above-named schools will require further additions during the coming year. With regard to light, ventilation, internal arrangement, and suitability of out-offices, the recent school additions are in every way satisfactory, and form a favourable contrast with the earlier buildings erected in the district. The painting of the school-rooms, which has been commenced, is a step in the right direction, and must tend, as is already apparent in several schools, to improve the tastes of the children and to arouse their activity in this direction. Already in a number of schools the handiwork of the girls is being displayed, by the erection of brackets and macrame draperies, and in a few instances ferns and flowering plants are carefully kept and tended by them. The neatest, cleanest, and best-arranged schools in the district are Waipawa, Hampden, Taradale, and Makatoku, which are models of what school-rooms ought to be. Works Required. —There are now only three districts where the buildings used for school purposes are not the property of the Board. These are at Mohaka, Te Ongaonga, and Takapau. At Waerenga-a-hika the building which was erected several years back by the settlers, and afterwards conveyed to the Board, stands upon a Native-school reserve, and, as the lease of the land expires shortly, the removal of the building, which is scarcely fit for school purposes, will become a necessity. I have several times drawn attention to the desirability of acquiring a portion of a ton-acre confiscated block in the neighbourhood as a school site, as the population is rapidly increasing, and the school attendance is far too large to warrant the closing of the school. Such a result, however, must ensue unless something is soon done in the direction pointed out by me. It is to be regretted that a residence is not attached to a schoolhouse in each district. lam convinced that if the schools, more especially the schools in outlying districts, are to become efficient there must be a teacher's residence provided for each. Teachers of experience will not go into places where there is no suitable house accommodation, and where the only lodging-house is the country inn. It seems to me that the small country school might be made quite as attractive to teachers with growing families as the town school, if only a little foresight was shown in providing a suitable residence to each school, and a paddock where a horse and cow might be kept, so as to lessen the cost of living in the teacher's family. There are eleven schools without a residence, and there are three others where the buildings are in sad need of repairs. Examinations. —The standard examinations, all of which I was able to complete before the beginning of the midsummer holidays, compare very favourably with the results of former years. In several districts the school work was hindered by the alterations and additions which were undertaken ; but, on the other hand, few days were lost either from sickness or bad weather, both the weather and the general health of the pupils having been remarkably good throughout the year. There has been a satisfactory increase in the number of pupils presented for examination in standards; but what is of much greater importance, as showing the actual progress of education during the year, is the fact that the increase has taken place mostly in the higher standards. Although there were 250 fewer children presented in standards in 1884 than in 1885, I notice that there were more children examined in Standard I. in the former year than in the latter. Standard VI. shows the largest proportionate increase for the year, both in the number presented for examination and the number passed. At the date of my examination there were 4,401 pupils enrolled as attending school ; 2,735, or 622 per cent., of these were deemed capable of being presented for examination in standards ; fifty-three were re-presented in standards they had already passed, under rule 2of the Government regulations dated June, 1884 ; and the remaining 1,613 were classed as infants, or as preparing for Standard I. From the following table it will be seen that 2,641 of those presented in standards were present at the examination, and that 2,066 of them, or 755 per cent., passed the necessary tests: —

Standard. o CO -; 1 «1 prese: St Numbc tited ii iandan a [ New Is. Number examined. pass St Numbs sedin andari sr New Percentage of Passes of those examined. Percentage of Passes for 1884. Is. Standard I. Standard II. standard III. Standard IV. Standard V. Standard VI 8-8 10-2 11-1 12-5 13-3 13-1 M. 421 393 269 203 97 41 P. 441 332 238 170 97 33 Total. 862 725 507 373 194 74 M. 405 384 262 197 82 40 M. F. Total. 405 425 830 384 325 709 262 232 494 197 171 368 82 87 169 40 81 71 M. 332 294 198 140 35 34 F. 361 279 177 136 51 29 Total. L 693 ) 573 r 375 5 276 L 86 ) 63 83-5 80-8 75-9 75-5 50-8 88-7 87 78-6 81-8 67-6 62 70-5 2,735 53 1,370 25 t dumber re-present standards infants too younj standards 3d in 1,424 25 1,311 28 1,370 1,271 2,641 25 28 53 1,033 1,033 2,066 75-5 ; for 870 743 1,613 704 704 622 1,326 2,319 2,082 4,401 2,099 2,099 1,921 4,020 1,921