E.—3

3. Post-primary Education The position with regard to post-primary education is not yet satisfactory, but wartime conditions have prevented the overcoming of the main difficulty—that of accommodation. Every year approximately one hundred scholarships are awarded to Form II Maori children in Native and public schools. These are tenable for two years, and at the end of that time the holders are eligible to compete for senior scholarships to enable them to receive a further two years' education. But of the one hundred children each year gaining their junior scholarships, only twenty-eight can receive senior scholarships to enable them to proceed to a third and fourth year of secondary education. This proportion is admittedly inadequate, but cannot be increased until boarding accommodation can be found. Thanks to the co-operation of the Boards of Governors at Gisborne and Napier, the Department was able in December, 1943, to find places for two boys at the Gisborne High School and seven at the Napier Boys' High School. Wesley College will reopen in 1944 and we will admit eleven first-year junior-scholarship holders, so that the difficulties will not be quite as serious as in 1942. There was an increase in the net enrolment of pupils in the secondary departments of Native district high schools on the east coast. The numbers increased from fifty in 1942 to fifty-seven in 1943. The work in these schools is also making progress, and with the liberalization of the prescription for the School Certificate in the very near future it will be possible to provide courses which will enable the pupils to attain that goal and so pass into the trades and professions with the hall-mark of a good secondary education. Apart from the pupils in these schools, scholarship holders were enrolled at the following institutions in 1943

The Junior and the Senior Te Makirini Scholarships were awarded to Arona Arona and to John Nyman respectively. Whare Appleton won the Buller Scholarship. 4. Educational Tours An innovation this year was the institution of educational tours for Native school-children. At the end of 1943 a party of forty children and two teachers from the Tokomaru Bay Native School were the guests of several Wellington schools for a week. The children spent a half-day at each of the five Wellington schools which had provided the greater part of the boarding accommodation. Here they entertained the Wellington children with their action songs, poi dances, and hakas, and were entertained in return. They mixed freely in sports and games and songs, and I believe the visit has done much to cement a friendly relation between the children of the two races. On the other half-days the children visited various places of interest in and around Wellington—2YA, where thirteen recordings of their beautiful singing were made ; Parliament Buildings ; Wellington Woollen-mills ; The Dominion newspaper office ; and the Zoo. In addition, the children gave two programmes at the Opera House, Wellington. This visit was a great success in every way. From an educational viewpoint, it can be realized what an education it was to children who had never seen a train or a tram, a viaduct or a tunnel, had never been in a lift or seen a building more than two stories in height. The children conducted themselves splendidly and were the subject of favourable comment wherever they went. At the same time they were able, by the help of their hosts, to get plenty of entertainment during their brief stay. I should like to express my thanks to the Wellington Education Board, to the headmasters of Wellington schools who secured the necessary accommodation, and to the numerous hosts and hostesses in Wellington City who so willingly placed their homes at the disposal of these young visitors. My thanks are also due to Mr. Whibley, of the Palmerston North Intermediate School, and the people of Palmerston North for providing accommodation for one night when it was necessary to break -the southward journey there. Another party of children from the Ohaeawai Native School, North Auckland, spent a week at Whangarei, inspecting various places of interest there. From reports received, it is evident that the visit was greatly enjoyed by the young Maori pupils, and their knowledge and experience of life were greatly expanded. I have, &c., T. A. Fletcher, The Director of Education, Wellington. Senior Inspector of Native Schools.

3

Boys. Girls. School. Number. School. Number. Te Aute College .. .. .. 67 Hukarere College .. .. 36 Feilding Agricultural High School .. 5 Queen Victoria School .. 33 Dannevirke High School .. .. 6 St. Joseph's Maori Convent, New Plymouth Boys' High School .. 6 Napier .. .. .. 39 St. Patrick's College, Silverstream .. 4 Turakina Maori Girls' School .. 24 Sacred Heart College, Auckland .. 5