7

E.—2

The attendance is not in all cases as regular as can be desired. There is a marked improvement in the efficiency of several of these schools, and in some the results are exceedingly satisfactory. At Otaki and Waerenga-a-hika advance has been made, particularly in the work of the lowest classes. In the case of the latter school I regret that the excellent facilities afforded there of giving instruction in carpentry and agriculture have not yet been taken advantage of. The two newcomers into this group— Tohaanu Roman Catholic Mission School and Te Hauke Mission School —made a very fair beginning, though the number of children that first attended the latter was not maintained during the year. Boarding Schools. There are six institutions affording the means of higher or secondary education for Maori boys and girls —viz., Te Aute College, Hawke's Bay; St. Stephen's Native Boys' School, Parnell, Auckland; Hukarere Protestant Girls' School, Napier; St. Joseph's Soman Catholic Girls' School, Napier; Queen Victoria School for Maori Girls, Auckland; and Turakina Maori Girls' School, Wanganui. Owing to my being unable through unforeseen difficulties to overtake the work, the greater part of the examination of Te Aute College was conducted by the Assistant Inspector-General of Schools. The following remarks contain the principal features of the report: St. Stephen's Boys' School, Parnell. —The work here has been arranged practically in accordance with the requirements of the Public School Regulations, and has been carried out in a very satisfactory manner. The work of the lower school, which follows in the main the Native School Code, was exceedingly creditable, that in the English, arithmetic, and geography being excellent. In the higher school, the work in English and arithmetic was very good indeed, the boys showing themselves capable of dealing with the questions set in the Department's examination-cards in a very satisfactory manner. As regards extra subjects, the boys received instruction in elementary practical agriculture, and appeared to take an intelligent interest in this work. They exhibited a fair knowledge of the first principles, and produced a fine display of vegetables for inspection. A feature of the training given at St. Stephen's is the instruction in woodwork, in which subject a well-arranged course was being followed. Practical instruction in bandaging and dressing wounds is given by the matron —a very useful work. Singing is well taught on the tonic-sol-fa system, and is a very enjoyable item of the examination-work. The physical training of the boys is in the hands of Professor Potter, of Auckland, and I am in a position to testify to the good effects that the system has had upon the physique of the boys. Te Aute College, Hawke's Bay. —Generally in the school there is ample evidence that the work of instruction is pursued with commendable industry on the lines adopted, and though the progress made in point of attainment varies greatly in the classes and the average result, a proportion of very promising members notwithstanding, cannot be regarded as high, no question can be entertained that the teachers' efforts do much to overcome the natural difficulties with which they are confronted, or that the school exercises a valuable influence over the character of the boys in attendance. Within the necessarily limited experience of an examiner's visit a more pleasing general tone could scarcely be manifested. The scheme of instruction pursued adheres closelyto traditional lines. The course is largely determined, as far as the upper classes -are concerned, by the requirements of matriculation, in the interests of occasional bright students who may be prepared to do justice to a university course, but considerable doubt may be expressed whether a material alteration in this respect might not be made with general advantage. With the view so far adopted in the school management much industry has been expended on Latin, apparently to little good purpose, and it may be suggested that the time and energy devoted to this subject would be much more profitably applied in other directions. The natural genius of the Maori in the direction of manual skill and his natural interest in the concrete would appear to furnish the readiest key to the development of his intelligence, and better progress, with the accompaniment of increased interest, might fairly be expected if the course pursued followed more closely the stream of tendency. Natural science and manual training (for the latter it is understood steps have already been taken to provide a workshop) thus naturally suggest themselves as matters of primary consideration, while in language ample scope is provided by English, in which, notwithstanding the laudable attention generally given to points of comprehension and oral paraphrase in connection with the English reading lessons, there is at present great room for a common improvement. The range of the English reading, it may be noted in this connection, strikes the examiners as exceedingly limited (it is understood to have been made so designedly), and some of the matter selected — e.g., in the Civil Service division—is admittedly unsuitable, as being of too difficult a character for appropriate treatment. For pupils whose mother-tongue is English a much wider range of reading, largely determined by the interest of the matter, would be regarded as essential, and it is hard to believe that where English is not the native speech a similar principle could not be applied with material profit. For further language lessons in addition to English the study of a classical specimen of Maori literature, with some inquiry into the structure of the Maori tongue, might be suggested as specially appropriate in a secondary school for pupils of the Maori race. St. Joseph's Roman Catholic Girls' School, Napier. —ln this school, as in all secondary schools for Maori girls, the work in the classes above Standard IV is based upon the syllabus of work for public schools, that of the lower classes following more upon the lines of the Native School Code. In St. Joseph's School, however, the programme of work in the lower classes really exceeds the requirements, and the children were quite competent to be examined upon the public schools syllabus. The work throughout the school is, in my opinion, really excellent, the degree of proficiency being uniform from the prepnratory classes upward. A feature of the work is the excellent