45

E.—lb

In each school fourteen pupils are presented for examination in standards, and all pass. The percentage of failures in each case is therefore 0; and, so far at least as the figures in Column 111. can inform us, both schools are equally efficient. But this conclusion appears inconsistent with the figures given in Column IV. The seeming inconsistency is explained by a reference to Columns I. and 11., where it is seen that in the case of the second school the proportion of standard children to the roll number is greater than in the case of the first. The percentage of failures, on the other hand, is calculated on the sum of the failures and passes, and is therefore independent of the number of children not presented in standards. This percentage, taken in conjunction with the number of marks awarded for class and additional subjects, indicates, so far as figures can, the Inspector's judgment of the state of a school, and may be used for the purposes of comparison. I regret that pressure of examination and other work left at my disposal only a very small fraction of the year to be given to inspection. On this account the information that I have gained touching the inner life and working of the schools under the charge of the Board must necessarily be very incomplete. On examination day the ordinary routine of school work is so interrupted that, in respect of many important particulars, an Inspector must be chary in forming a judgment. On the whole, however, I think the Board may be congratulated on the state of the schools under its charge. In its service are to be found skilful, enthusiastic teachers, with whom it is a pleasure to be associated. lam satisfied that much real work in education is being done, and that the large majority of our teachers make an honest endeavour to discharge their duties well, and to prepare the children entrusted to their care, not alone for the standards, but for the duties of life. The Board is aware that three-fourths of the schools in this district are country schools conducted by unassisted teachers, and that in each of a large number of those there are, at least, five standards and two infant classes. The unaided teacher who successfully grapples with the work of the syllabus has done well; and it affords me pleasure to record the fact that not a few of these small schools have acquitted themselves in a manner altogether satisfactory. It is true that in several of our schools only a moderate degree of efficiency has been attained. In some cases this is due more to the inexperience of the young teachers in charge than to a want of conscientious effort on their part. But in other instances, where better things might reasonably be looked for, bad organization, unskilful teaching, or weak discipline has resulted in signal failure on examination day. The teachers have possibly worked hard, but have succeeded only in beating the air. In all classes of schools, but more especially in those small ones I allude to, careful economising of time and labour, good organization, perfect discipline, and continuous, earnest effort are necessary that even intelligent teaching may attain the end aimed at. I would strongly advise country teachers to avail themselves to the full of the permission granted by the regulations to group classes for instruction in certain subjects. With permission of the Board, I shall comment briefly on the more important of the pass subjects. Beading.—This subject shows, as usual, the highest percentage of passes. This, however, is not tantamount to saying that reading is the most successfully-taught subject of the syllabus. On the contrary, it is only in a comparatively small number of schools that the subject seems to have received that share of attention that its importance warrants. In these, however, reading has been so taught as to impart to the children a large amount of educative discipline. Generally, reading may be characterized as ranging from very fair to very moderate. Mistakes in pronunciation, the slurring of small words, the indistinct articulation of unaccented syllables, imperfect grouping of words, and disregard of sense pauses are the prevailing faults. To these attention has been directed so often, and with so little apparent effect, that one cannot avoid the conviction that many teachers presume on the indulgence of the Inspector, and devote to the subject only so much time as will secure that limited degree of proficiency which they think will obtain a pass. But mere verbal accuracy is not all that is required, though it is certainly true that the attainment of even this measure of success implies the cultivation of such valuable habits as accurate observation and attention to small things. I have too often had occasion, when commenting on the results of my examinations, to note the fact that teachers had evidently exercised little care that their pupils understood the meaning of what they read. Where comprehension is weak, it may be possible to secure reading free from most of the defects I have already indicated ; but unless the words are to the children something more than dead things, something more than mere sounds, intelligent and expressive reading is an impossibility. Even in the earliest reading lessons the teacher should not rest satisfied with merely mechanical accuracy. In the very lowest classes he will take pains to connect the meaning with the words read, and to get the children to read as if they knew the meaning and wished to convey it. By explanation and illustration he will clear up all difficulties of the text, and by inductive questioning will train the children in habits of intelligent thought. In the upper standards the paraphrasing of sentences and paragraphs should receive a large share of attention; the educative value of this exercise can hardly be over-estimated. Finally, I would remind teachers that it is an instruction to Inspectors that "no reading that is not intelligent shall be allowed to count towards a pass." W'eiting.—The handwriting, as judged from the copy books, is on the whole very fair. In a considerable number of schools, indeed, a high degree of excellence has been reached in this art; and it is only in a relatively small number that the writing is very bad. I have been pleased to notice that, in the large majority of schools in this district, errors are, on the whole, carefully marked, and that teachers have adopted the system of having the day's copy uniform for each class. In schools where the writing is indifferent the most unsatisfactory results are those obtained from Standard 11. I trust it is needless for me to impress on the teachers of those schools the truism that the foundation of good penmanship, as of good reading, must be laid in the lower classes. Nevertheless, thick upstrokes and turnings, jagged, uneven downstrokes, and letters wrongly sloped, compel the conclusion that the children are allowed to sit in a constrained attitude, and to hold the pen in a faulty manner ; while unmarked and often repeated errors in the shapes of letters, in their