11

c—i

are inspected by officers of Education Boards. The following are the particulars in regard to these schools for the year 1911 : — Total number of schools inspected .. .. .. .. .. 183 Total roll number .. .. .. .. .. .. .. 15,914 Average attendance .. .. .. .. .. .. 14,084 Total roll at annual examination .. .. .. .. .. 15,404 Number present at annual examination .. .. .. .. 14,233 Number present in preparatory classes .. .. .. 5,774 Number present in S6 .. .. .. .. .. .. 928 Number present in S7 .. .. .. .. .. .. 244 Number of proficiency certificates issued .. . . .. .. 581 Number of competency certificates issued . . .. .. .. 174 The standard of regularity of attendance was very satisfactory, being 88-5 per cent, of the total roll number. Classification and Examination. Table D is a summary for the whole Dominion of Table Dl in E.-2, which shows the numbers in the several classes for the various districts. The proportion of pupils in the preparatory classes is still steadily increasing. In 1909 it was 36-66 per cent., in 1910, 37-15 per cent, in 1911, 37-30 per cent.

Table D.—Classification of Pupils at Public Schools, December, 1911.

More detailed information in regard to the classification of pupils can be obtained on reference to Table B appearing on page 5. A study of this Table shows how much quicker girls pass through the standards than do boys. It will also be noticed that a larger proportion of girls than boys ramain in Standard VII. The following is a summary of the examination statistics for 1911: — Total roll at time of annual examination ... ... ... 162,536 Present at examination ... ... ... ... ... 155,244 Present in preparatory classes ... .... ... ... 56,770 Present in classes S6 ... ... ... ... ... 9,742 Present in classes S7 ... ... ... ... ... 1,757 Standard VI certificates gained, viz.,— Certificates of proficiency ... ... ... 7,212) Q ngn competency ... ... ... 1,808) y,u^u Details of these figures far each district are given in Table D 2 of the Primary Education Report. Average Age.— The average ages of the pupils in the several classes for the two years 1910-11 were as follows :— 1910. 1911. Yrs. inos. Yrs. mos. Preparatory classes ... ... ... ... 7 0 7 1 Class SI ... ... ... ... ... ... 9 2 9 1 „ S2 ... ... ... ..■ •■■ ... 10 2 10 2 ~ S3 ... ... ... ... ... ... 11 3 11 3 ~ S4 ... ... ... ... ... ... 12 3 12 2 „ S5 ... ... ... .. . ... ... 13 1 13 2 „ S6 ... ... ... ... ... ... 14 0 13 11 „ S7 ... 15 0 15 0 Mean of average ages ... .. ... ... 910 9 9 Details for the several districts will be found in Table D 3 of E.-2.

Classes. I Boys. GirlB. Girls. Total. Percental Total. <es lor Five Years. Jlass P .. „ SI .. . 82.. „ S3 .. „ S4 .. „ 85.. ,,66.. „ 87.. 32,034 10,334 9,895 9,715 8,899 7,344 5,223 1,118 ; i 1907. J 1908. 28,266 60,300 | 31-11 34-27 9,610 i 19,944 ! 12-05 11-96 9,340 , 19,235 ! 12-10 11-61 9,019 ! 18,734 J 12-04 '' 11-98 8,044 16,943 11-46 11-20 6,756 ! 14,100 I 10-24 9-65 4,809 10,032 7-79 6-87 1,242 2,360 I 3-21 ' 2-46 1909. 1910. 3666 i 37-15 12-25 : 12-17 11-82 ', 11-94 11-34 ; 11-44 10-78 i 10-39 9-08 ' 9-10 6-56 6-16 1-51 ; 1-65 1911. 37-30 12-34 11-90 11-59 10-48 8-72 6-21 1-46 . i Totals.. 84,562 77,086 161,648 100-00 100-00 100-00 1100-00 100-00