35

E.—lb

trated papers, books of travel, tourists' guide-books, &c, can all be turned to excellent account in the schoolroom. In my own experience in schools at Home I found it of great service to go through the " Shipping Intelligence " column of a newspaper. The scholars greatly enjoyed the change from the text-book; and in case any one should think there was more play than profit in half-hours occasionally spent in this way, I would advise him to make a trial of it, and I expect he will be astonished at the demand made upon his geographical knowledge before he gets to the foot of the column. Deawing.—Good progress continues to be made in the teaching of freehand drawing. In nearly all the schools a little geometrical drawing was professed in the Fifth and Sixth Standards, in addition to freehand. To obtain a pass in the Fourth Standard both freehand and geometrical drawing were required, and with only one or two exceptions the teachers were able to show a fair amount of both kinds of drawing. In the beginning of the year some difficulty was experienced in procuring cheap and serviceable instruments. Most of those I have seen in the hands of the children should have been cheap enough, for they had little else to recommend them, and with the most careful handling they will soon get out of order. Class Subjects.—The only subjects that remain to be spoken of under this head are history, science, and object-lessons. In their treatment of these subjects most of the teachers have found a means of conveying to the pupils a great deal of more or less useful information. The credit of making these lessons more than mere tasks for the memory belongs to a few of our most painstaking and skilful teachers. Additional Subjects.— Drill. —ln forty schools some training has been given in military drill and physical exercises. The marks (0 to 20) awarded ranged from 4to 18, the average obtained being 11. Singing. —l am sorry to say that we have as many as nineteen schools where the singing lesson finds no place in the time-table. In about twenty of the others little more is attempted than the singing of a few songs learned by ear. In the rest the children are taught to sing from notes, and in these schools the singing is generally very good. Sewing. —lnstruction in needlework is given in forty-two schools, and in the great majority of these the work shown was more than creditable. During my visits to the schools I have always found the children well-behaved. It is due to the teachers and the children to mention that only one or two instances of attempts at dishonest practices during the working of the papers set for examination have come under my notice, and from the general tone of the schools I regarded these as results of sudden impulse rather than the outcome of evil habit. I have, &c, Jas. Gibson Gow, M.A., Inspector. The Chairman, South Canterbury Board of Education.

OTAGO. Sib,— We have the honour to submit our report for the year 1889. During the year all the schools in the Otago District were examined, and all but eight were visited for inspection. Pour of the latter were closed when the Inspector was visiting the district in which they are situated. Four schools were opened during the latter half of the year, when the school examinations were going on. Some additions were made every year to the number of schools, and the work of examination occupies annually somewhat more of our time. The time available for inspection is proportionately curtailed, and in order to overtake the work we are compelled in many cases to visit two schools in a single day. But for this arrangement we could not have overtaken the work of inspection so fully as we have done. The following table shows the chief statistics of examination for the year:—

Of the 22,401 pupils presented on the examination schedules, 14,173 were entered for examination in one or other of the standards, being 254 more than the corresponding number for last year. In all, 13,848 were present and were examined in Standards I. to, VI. Of these, 11,596 passed the standard for which they were The percentage of failures in standards was 13-8; in 1888 it was I'6|; and in 1887 it was 18. The average percentage of marks for clas"s subjects was 555, as against 56 for 1888 ; and the average of marks for additional subjects 682, as against 66 for last year. In every standard there has been Un advance in the percentage of standard passes. The advance is 4 per cent, in Standard V., 3 per cent, in Standard 11., 2 per cent, in Standard 1.,

Standard Classes. Presented. Absent. Excepted. Failed. i Passed. Average Age of those that passed. Infants Standard I. II. „ III. „ IV. v. „ VI. Above Standard VI. ... 8,012 2,949 3,048 3,082 2,408 i 1,749 937 216 44 60 93 61 49 18 35 79 115 88 65 11 i 162 221 502 434 365 175 2,708 2,688 2,372 1,825 1,270 733 Yrs. mos. 9 2 10 2 11 5 12 2-5 . 13 2-8 14 0-2 Totals 22,401 325 393 1,859 * Mean of average age, 11 years 8-4 months. 11,596