E.—l

36

, 1908. , 1909. , Boys. Girls. Total. Boys. Girls. Total. Eoll (exclusive of lower departments) 2,502 1,678 4,180 2,797 1,870 4,667 Number in lower departments ... 88 59 147 114 75 189 Total 2,590 1,737 4,327 2,911 1,945 4,856 Number of boarders (included above) 557 136 693 566 140 706 In the same years these schools were staffed as follows : — , 1908. , , 1909. M. F. Total. M. F. Total. Regular staff ... ... ... 125 91 216 131 93 224 Part-time teachers ... ... 43 25 68 44 33 77 The average number of pupils per teacher (excluding part-time teachers) is thus seen to have been 20 in 1908, and 21-7 in 1909. The average number of pupils on the roll of the secondary departments of district high schools in the two years, 1908, 1909, respectively, were — 1908. 1909. Boys 1,167 1,100 Girls ... ... ... ... ... ... 1,191 1,063 Total ... ... ... ... 2,358 2,163 If, instead of taking the average roll throughout the year, we take, as for the secondary schools, the roll at the end of the year, we find the numbers in the secondary departments of district high schools to have been as follows : — 1908. 1909. Boys ... ... ... ... ... ... 1,017 944 Girls ... 1,125 947 Total 2,142 1,891 Both in the secondary schools and in the secondary departments of district high schools there is a falling-off in the roll towards the end of the year; but the decrease is less marked in the secondary schools than in the secondary departments of the district high schools : in the latter the total roll at the end of the year was 2,142 in 1908 and 1,891 in 1909. The falling-off in the course of the year is more marked in the case of the boys than of the girls: this is due, no doubt, to the fact that more boys leave school to enter employment. Besides the head teachers, who generally take some part in the secondary instruction, there were employed in 1908 in the secondary departments of district high schools 102 special assistants—ss men and 47 women —and last year 93 special assistants —namely, 43 men and 50 women. The average number of pupils per teacher was 23-1 in 1908 and 233 in 1909. In addition to those in secondary schools and in the secondary departments of district high schools there should properly be included in the number of pupils under secondary instruction in the Dominion (a) the pupils attending certain day classes in connection with technical schools, which in this regard may be called technical high schools; and (6) the pupils in various institutions for the secondary education of Maori boys and girls. The total numbers on the roll of technical day schools at any time during the years 1908 and 1909 were as follows : — 1908. 1909. Boys ... ... ... ... ... 307 345 Girls ... ... ... ... ... 392 501 Totals ... ... ... 699 846