81

E.—l

The number of Maori and half-caste children attending the schools in this district is shown in the following table : — Males. Females. Total. Maoris... ... ... ... ... 5 2 7 Half-castes or other children of mixed race living as members of a Native tribe ... ... 2 2 4 Half-castes or other children of mixed race living among Europeans ... ... ... 34 21 55 Number of schools in which there were Maori or halfcaste scholars or those of mixed race ... 12 Ages op Pupils.—The following table shows the number and ages of the pupils that attended the public schools in the district during the last quarters of the years 1882, 1883, 1884, 1885, 1886, and 1887. [Not reprinted.] The most interesting point about this table is the gradual decline in the percentage of pupils between five and seven years of age. In 1882 these formed 21J- per cent, of the whole attendance : they now form only 16f per cent, of it. Inspection.—With the exception of three new schools opened towards the end of the year, all the schools in the district were examined, and all but one were visited for inspection. The following is an abstract of the work done by the Inspectors during the year:—

Standards. —In all, 13,524 pupils were presented for examination in the standards. Of these, 13,115 were present, and. 10,492 passed. The number of absentees was 409, or 3 per cent, of those presented. Of the 13,115 examined, 390, or rather less than 3 per cent., were excepted: that is, they were not reckoned as passing or failing, and were left out of account in computing the percentage of failures. The percentage of absentees was somewhat lower than that for last year, and the percentage of exceptions the same. The percentage of passes in standards was 80, being an advance of 3 per cent, on last year's result. The average percentage of class subjects was 58, and the average of additional marks 63. The following table shows the statistics of examination for the year, with the corresponding figures for last year printed beside them, for ease of comparison. [Not reprinted.] This table shows an advance in the results of Standards 11., 111., IV., and VI., and a very slight decline in those of Standard V. Of the 183 schools examined — 13 (= 7 per cent.) had a percentage of failures ranging from ... oto 5 23 (= 13 per cent.) „ „ „ ... 6 to 10 58 (= 32 per cent.) „ „ „ ... 11 to 20 41 (=22 per cent.) „ „ „ ... 21 to 30 30 (=l6 per cent.) „ „ „ ... 31 to 40 13 (= 7 per cent.) „ „ „ ... 41 to 50 s(= 3 per cent.) „ „ „ ... 51 to 30 A comparison of the above table with the corresponding one in last year's report shows a marked improvement in the efficiency of a considerable number of schools. The following are the thirteen schools at which the percentage of failures was 5 or less, with the number of pupils presented in each :— o L..1 Percentage of Number bchooL Failures. presented. Gimmerburn ... ... ... 0 ... 33 pupils. Kakapuaka ... ... ... 0 ... 37 „ Stoneburn ... ... ... 0 ... 17 „ Waitahuna West ... ... ... 0 ... 21 „ Normal ... ... ... 2 ... 680 „ Ahuriri ... ... ... 4 ... 39 „ Kakanui • • • ... • • 4 ... 98 „ Stirling ... ... ... 4 ... 168 „ Kurißush ... ... ... 5 ... 28 „ Lawrence District High ... ... 5 ... 266 „ Lovell's Flat ... ... ... 5 ... 67 „ Macandrew Eoad ... ... ... 5 ... 656 „ Pukeuri ... ... ... 5 ... 129 „ It is satisfactory to note that schools of every class appear in the above table.

• Thirty-three of the schools in this column are reckoned twice over, as two Inspectors worked together in examining them.

Inspector. Time. Distance travelled. Inspection Visits. Schools examined.* \fr. Petrie... )/Lv. Taylor ilr. Goyen Hours. 1,778 1,818 1,902 Miles. 3,580 3,676 4,130 72 64 7;j 69 77 70