113

THE NEW ZEALAND GOVERNMENT GAZETTE

(PROVINCE OF NELSON)

Published by Authority.

All notifications which appear in this Gazette with any Official Signature thereunto annexed are to be considered as Official Communications made to those Persons to whom they may relate, and are to be obeyed accordingly.

EUGENE J. O'CONOR, Provincial Secretary.

VOL. XXV. NELSON, WEDNESDAY, JULY 26, 1876. No. 22.

ANNUAL REPORT OF THE INSPECTOR OF PUBLIC SCHOOLS.

TO THE CHAIRMAN OF THE CENTRAL BOARD OF EDUCATION.

SIR,—

I beg to lay before you the following Report on the Public Schools of the Province of Nelson for the twelve months ending June 30, 1876.

Five new schools have been opened, and the names of 544 scholars have been added to the rolls during the past year—the total number of public schools being now 68; of scholars, 4913. During the last six months, when the schools were no longer thinned by sickness, the average attendance has been better than it was last year—the percentage for the March quarter being 71; for the June quarter, 74. The worst feature disclosed by the annual returns is, that the proportion of children who remain at our schools after they have reached their twelfth year is steadily decreasing—the large addition to the total numbers this year having failed to bring up the list of scholars over twelve to the number reached last year. It bodes ill for the ultimate success of any system of primary education when the school life of nearly five-sixths of the children ceases at twelve years old. And yet it is hard to say what inducements are wanting. No admission fee is exacted in education districts—excellent books and maps are supplied gratis—the discipline is far from being harsh—and the teaching, on the whole, is more rational, systematic, and more careful than it has ever been before.

I subjoin a summary, embodying my opinion as to the manner in which each subject is being taught in our schools. Cases of exceptional merit or demerit will be dealt with in the detailed report of each school.

Reading.—On the whole, reading is successfully taught. There are 83 more good readers than there were last year, nor does the bare enumeration of these figures by any means represent the amount of improvement that has been made in the style of the children's reading. It is not uncommon to meet with scholars who read prose with taste and good intonation, while the initial "h"—that standing difficulty with teachers of primary schools—has been fairly grappled with and, in most cases, mastered. In some schools, such as Happy Valley, Motupiko, and Stoke, great pains have evidently been taken to cure a chronic drawl. Few of our scholars, it must be confessed, can yet read a passage of poetry without offending the hearer.

Writing.—As a rule, great, though not undue attention is being paid to this art. The copy-books are usually kept neatly, and the letters are well formed. It is impossible, however, not to observe that the handwriting at the schools on the West Coast is, with at most two or three exceptions, palpably inferior to that in the rest of the Province. I am at a loss to account for this inferiority, but that it exists is pretty clear from the fact that in 18 schools, containing 808 scholars, I could find only