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The increase in the number of children presented is not very great, being 610 for the six years. It is certainly worth noting, however, how large a proportion of this increase has gone to swell the numbers in Standards IV., V., VI., and the class above Standard VI., which have increased from 864 to 1,250, from 19-7 per cent, of the school-rolls in 1886 to 25-1 in 1891. From the last available returns it appears that this percentage for the colony is 22-8. Taken all round, the results stated in the table show that, while the district is steadily increasing in numbers, a distinct advance has been made in the efficiency of the schools. With respect to regularity of attendance, the district ought to show a better record than it does. Why should eighty-six children out of every hundred on the rolls of the schools in Otago be present every school-day, while in our schools we can muster only seventy-nine ? Not only are we a long way behind the best in the matter of regular attendance, we fall short of the average for the colony. Those who attend irregularly are the despair of the teachers; they make little progress themselves, and are a drag on their fellows. It is a common saying among the teachers that, if there is one day of the year when a pupil who is notoriously bad in this respect is sure to put in an appearance it is the examination day. An attendance at the examination of 95 per cent, of the children shows that there is some ground for this statement. Nor is it a bad thing that they do turn out on that day; the pity is that those who have been the cause of their too frequent absences are not present too, to witness some of the immediate effects of their own indifference and folly. I have not deemed it necessary in this report to comment on the methods employed by the teachers, and on the quality of the work done in the wide range of subjects that have a place in the syllabus, as I have already dealt with these pretty fully in the inspection reports presented to the Board during the year. I may state, however, that I have availed myself of the opportunities offered by my visits to the schools, and of the occasions when teachers have called upon me here, to enter into friendly talk with them about their methods and their work, and any criticism or suggestion of mine has generally been well received. It is always a pleasure to me to give what aid I can to a teacher who feels himself in a difficulty with regard to some point in the management of his school, and I am sure the sympathy which is engendered as we get to know each other better in this way is not an unimportant factor in promoting the educational welfare of the district. I have, &c, Jas. Gibson Gow, M.A., Inspector. The Chairman, South Canterbury Education Board.
OTAGO. Sib, —■ We have the honour to submit the following report on the public schools of the Otago District for the year 1891: — During the year all the schools were examined, and nearly all were visited for inspection. Of those not inspected, all but two were visited and found closed, or were officially reported to be closed when the Inspector was going the round of the district in which they lie. The time available for inspection is now less than a third of the year. The standard examinations take up considerably more than half the year, and of the remaining time a considerable proportion is occupied with the preparation of standard, scholarship, and pupil-teacher examination papers, the carrying out of the pupil-teacher and scholarship examinations, and the examination of the somewhat voluminous answers given by those examined. Were it not that much of this work is done during the school holidays we should not have time to go round every part of the district for the purposes of inspection. In some of the education districts the Inspectors are allowed assistance at the scholarship and pupil-teacher examinations, and it would be a great relief to us if the same were done here.
Number presented. Number passed. Proportion presented of total School-roll. ' Proportion passed of total School-roll. Percentage of Failures. Number of Schools presenting. Classes. 1886. 1891. 1886. 1891. 1886. 1891. 1886. 1891. 1886. 1891. 1886. 1891. Above Standard VI. Standard VI. V. IV. III. II. I. Preparatory 39 102 280 450 678 645 597 1,581 66 194 394 596 730 715 624 1,656 74 144 222 354 521 499 131 234 372 466 570 549 •73 2-34 6-41 10-31 15-53 14-78 13-68 36-22 1-33 3-90 7-92 11-98 14-67 14-37 12-55 33-28 1-69 3-29 5-08 8-11 11-93 11-43 2-63 4-70 7-48 9-36 11-45 11-03 24-46 40-24 44-36 37-78 10-08 8-44 25-14 32-17 30-20 27-97 12-17 6-79 12 21 38 42 46 47 47 48 18 41 53 55 56 57 56 57 Totals [4,365 4,975 1,814 2,322 ilOO-OO ,100-00 41-53 46-65 25-50 20-96 48 57
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