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REPORT OF THE SENIOR INSPECTOR OF MAORI SCHOOLS Sir, — 26th March, 1950. I have the honour to present the following report on Maori schools for the year 1949 1. Schools and Staff During 1949 the Reporua Maori School was consolidated on the Manutahi Maori District High School, and new schools were opened at Te Hauke and Tawapata. These changes brought the total number of Maori schools controlled by the Education Department to 160, an increase of 1 on the 1949 figure. The total enrolment in December, 1949, was 13,288, an increase of 34 over the figure for December, 1948. The average weekly enrolment was 13,191, the regularity of attendance being 87 per cent. Of the 13,288 children on the rolls in December, 12,139 were Maoris and 1,149 were Europeans. In addition to the 160 State Maori primary schools, there were 10 mission Maori primary schools with a total enrolment of 805 (an increase of 53 on the 1948 figure), and 10 denominational Maori post-primary schools with an enrolment of 729 Maori pupils (an increase of 75 on the previous year's figure). In December, 1949, there were 17,647 Maori children on the rolls of the public schools (as distinct from Maori Schools) throughout the Dominion, as compared with 16,591 in December, 1948. The conveyance of pupils in remote localities continues to play an important part in the education of Maori pupils. The management of conveyance services to Maori schools was transferred to Education Boards at the beginning of 1949 with a view to effecting better co-ordination of transport services generally. It is yet too early to assess the full effects of .this change of control. On the Ist July, 1949, the number of children being transported daily to Maori schools by free or subsidized conveyance services or who were receiving travellingallowances was 3,852. The staffing of Maori schools during the year was again difficult. The greatest difficulty was experienced in obtaining sufficient applicants for female assistantships in Maori primary schools and for post-primary assistantships in the Maori district high schools. Consequently, it was necessary to continue to use a considerable number of the more experienced junior assistants as relieving class teachers, and we were able to employ a few superannuitants as relieving teachers. The staffing position was temporarily made more difficult by the Teachers' Emergency Training Scheme, which permitted 22 uncertificated teachers, many of them holding responsible assistantships, to enter training college. The number of teachers employed in December and classified according to certificate held was :

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Classification. Males. I Females. 1 Total. A Certificate 2 2 B Certificate 34 12 46 C Certificate 131 127 v 258 D Certificate 11 13 24 Uncertificated 10 56 66 Total 188 208 396