E.—2

attendance for each year, the average attendance as a percentage of the roll, and the number of teachers employed in the public schools.

TABLE B.-Schools, Attendance, and Teachers.

Details of these facts relating to the several districts are given in Tables 81, 82, and 83, on pages 25 and 26. The roll statistics cannot be considered as complete unless there are included all the children for whose primary education the State is responsible. To the above figures we must add the number of pupils in the Maori village schools (called Native schools) and in the schools of the Chatham Islands, which are under the direct control of the Department: the complete roll for all public primary schools for the year 1909 then appears as follows :— L 909. 1910. Public schools ... ... ... ... ... 1,51,142 154.756 Maori village schools (Native schools) ... ... J .308 1.325 Chatham Islands schools ... ... ... ... 92 93 155,542 159,174 Attendance. The average attendance lor the year 1910 rose from 132,773 to 135,738, an increase of 2*2 per cent., as compared with an increase of 2-6 per cent, in the roll number. The increased attendance is manifest in every district except two — Wellington, where the attendance has fallen by 147, and Hawke's Bay, where it has remained stationary. The standard of regularity of attendance is still very satisfactory, although ii has slightly fallen since last year. The following are the figures for the last five years: — Attendance per Cent, of ltoll. 1906 ... ... ... ... ... ... 869 1907 ... ... ... ... ... ... 84-6 1908 ... ... ... ... ... ... 87-1 1909 ... ... ... ... ... ... 87-8 1910 ... . ... ... ... ... H7-7 Otago again leads with the excellent percentage of 90 - 5, with Marlborough second with 89-2, Wellington (88-9) being the highest for the North Island. Under section 9 of the Education Amendment Act, 1910, which came into force on the Ist January, 1911, all children are required to attend the school whenever it is open, so it may be confidently anticipated that the percentage of attendance in future years will show a still further increase.

4

Number „,¥"*".„. Average Attendance \ >>hi of wufiiv Attendance, as PercentSchools. B®ii iWhole Year. a>{e of Ko11 - Weekly Boll. M. Number of Teachers. Adults. l'upil-teachers. P. Total. M. Total. 1878 .. .. .. 748 ... MSA- , ■• 707 I 1883 .. .. .. '.171 90,85'J 69,838' 76-9 905 1888 .. .. .. 1,158, 113,630 f90,108 79-8 1,039 1898 .. .. .. 1,375 I 125,692 I {100,323 79-8 1,107 1898 .. .. .. 1,655 I 133,782 111,686 83-4 1,234 1900 .. .. .. 1,707 132,897 111,748 84-1 1,210 1901 .. .. .. 1,715 132,868 111,797 84-1 1,222 1902 .. .. .. 1,754 133,952 113,711 84--.I 1,272 1903 .. .. .. 1,785 134,748 113,047 88"9 1,270 1901 .. . .. 1,827 136,282 116,50(1 '. 85-5 1,272 1905 .. .. .. 1,851 138,471 120,266 , 1,302 1906 .. .. .. 1,921 140,320 121.'.). : ,s 86-9 1,314 1907 .. .. .. 1,963 141,'.140 120,026 8-1-6 1,332 1908 .. .. .. 1,998 145,974 127,160 87-1 1,331 1909 .. .. .. 2,057 151,142 132,773 87-8 1,406 1910 .. .. .. 2,096 154,756 186,788 877 1,456 454 1,161 118 332 450 656 1,561 159 571 730 887 1,926 ' 219 694 913 1,096 2,203 238 825 1,063 1,370 2,604 229 831 1,060 1,415 2,631 i 206 749 955 1,446 2,668 : 184 771 ! 955 1,685 2,957 : 143 604 747 1,726 2,996 | 147 552 699 1,797 3,069 144 | 505 649 1,835 3,137 151 528 679 1,887 3,201 153 518 67] 1,955 3,287 172 478 650 2,021 3,352 161 476 li.T, 2,208 3,614 j 166 530 696 2,252 3,708 ! 174 526 §700 * Average of tlirt-r iiuitri«». i Strict average. ! Working average. 5 Kxolusive e i>( :U male ami 163 female probationer!*.