17. The total number of schools open during some part of the year was 772. During the year. 18. The tabular statement below shows the classification of the schools open Classification of at the end of the year, and compares it with that of the previous year:— schools. provisional 19. The Regulations provide for a State school being established when the overgrown permanent average daily attendance reaches 30 pupils, but no less than 64 of the schools. provisional schools had an average daily attendance for the year sufficient to justify the establishment of a State school. One of them (Mareeba, a railway terminus) had the large average daily attendance of 126, Apple-Tree Creek had 80, and Wilsonton 72. Nine provisional schools had an average daily attendance between 50 and 70, and at 52 others the average daily attendance was between 30 and 50. The difficulty which the promoters of schools find in raising one-fifth of the cost of State schools before the work can proceed explains the delay in the substitution of State schools for overgrown provisional schools. The facts appear to indicate that the local ability or willingness to provide school accommodation suitable in amount and kind does not keep pace with the increase of population. The greatly enlarged number of provisional schools with a daily average of over 20 pupils is noteworthy. Of these there were 168 in 1896 against 95 in 1895. 20. Two pairs of half-time schools were in operation during the year, namely, Half-time Pikedale No. 1 and 2, and Nellybri with Retreat. 21. Tables A, B, and C, appended to this Report, give full particulars respecting the schools in operation during the year 1896. ATTENDANCE OF CHILDREN. schools. 22. For 1896 the gross enrolment was 77,317 in the State and 13,463 in the Enrolment. provisional schools, making a total of 90,780. The net enrolment (or number of distinct children on the rolls) was 81,754, showing an increase of 7,212 on the net enrolment for 1895. attendance. 23. The average daily attendance was 46,087 in the State and 8,229 in the Average daily provisional schools-total 54,316, showing an increase of 6,046 on the average daily attendance for 1895. children. 24. The annual returns from head teachers for the year 1896 show a total of Neglected 1,763 children (969 boys and 734 girls) between the ages of six and fifteen, who, though living within reach of a school, are not educated up to the standard of education, and are not attending any school. Of these, 956 are between the ages of six and twelve, and 747 are over twelve. The total number of neglected children thus reported is less by 216 than it was in 1895. neglected 25. The number of children reported as not attending school the minimum Partially number of days required by the Education Act-that is to say 60 in the half-year-children. was 9,811 in the half-year ending June, and 8,620 in the half-year ending December. Comparing these numbers with the corresponding ones for 1895, we find an increase of 1,585 defaulters in the first half-year, and 319 in the second half-year. Number of teachers. TEACHERS EMPLOYED. 26. At the end of 1896 the total number of teachers employed was 1,715, an increase for the year of 181 teachers. The tabular statement following gives the numbers in detail, the minus sign indicating a decrease : 27. Dividing the average daily attendance as given in Table C by the number of teachers given in the same table, we find that during the year 1896 the average number of pupils taught by each teacher was 31-7 in the State schools, 21-2 in the provisional schools, and 316 for all the schools. The corresponding numbers for 1895 were 34-8, 20-2, and 31.4. Again, dividing the increase in the average daily attendance (6,046) by the increase in the number of teachers (181) we find the average number of pupils for each teacher appointed to be 33.4. 28. The following is a comparative view of the number of teachers employed in the State and the provisional schools, respectively, at the end of 1896 :— Status of teachers. Classified TOTALS STATUS OF TEACHERS. • Including 63 teachers eligible for classification when their services are required in classified State schools. 29. From Table F we learn that of the entire teaching staff of the colony at the end of 1896, 51.1 per cent. were classified, 27.3 per cent. were unclassified, and 21.6 per cent. were pupil-teachers. The number of classified teachers in each rank and the number of pupil-teachers in each class at the end of the year are shown in the condensed statement below: Promotion of teachers. Consequent expenditure. 30. Of the 876 classified teachers 101 received promotion in classification7 from class to class by examination, and 94 from division to division as a reward for meritorious service. Of the unclassified teachers 42 received promotion into Class III. the lowest rank of classified teachers. Of the 371 pupil-teachers 151 received promotion in the ordinary course of their apprenticeship. 31. Excluding the increments to pupil-teachers (£2,120) the increased annual expenditure consequent on these promotions was £1,274, dating from 1st July, 1896, when the financial year begins. 32. Particulars respecting the promotions made in 1896 appear in the following Particulars. tables : in 1890. 33. The number of teachers who left the service during the year was-males, Left the service 41; females, 103; total, 144. This includes the teachers whose services terminated on 31st December. The corresponding number for 1895 was 170. The tabular statement below gives the status and sex of the teachers who left in 1896 :— 34. An analysis of the reasons assigned for leaving the service gives the Reasons for following results: leaving the service. * These comprised pupil-teachers who had completed their pupilage. They were re-employed as teachers early in 1897. 35. The annual general examination of teachers throughout the colony was Lerner, held in December. There were 38 examining centres, of which 10 were in charge of the district inspectors, and 25 in charge of the local police magistrates (or their Details of the Schools inspected. Staff inadequat On Primary, Technical Education Compared with 1895. TOTALS The examination for Class II. and Class I. may be taken by instalments from year to year, and generally are so taken. The passes here recorded are for the completed examinations only. INSPECTIONS. 36. The total number of inspections accomplished by the 10 district inspectors (exclusive of incidental visits and special inquiries) was 823, of which 804 were detailed inspections and 19 were supplementary inspections of schools which had been examined in detail at an earlier period of the year. From unavoidable causes twenty-seven of the schools open at some time during the year were not inspected. Forty-nine detailed inspections were made of Roman Catholic and other schools not under the control of the Department. 37. The pressure of work in the General Inspector's office was such that he was not able to visit any schools during the year. The district inspectors were fully occupied all the year, and yet 27 schools had to go without inspection, while the number of second inspections was only 19. In 1895 only 8 schools were omitted, while the second inspections amounted to 152. It is clear that the present staff is numerically inadequate for the complete and satisfactory inspection of the schools, and arrangements have been made for the appointment of an additional inspector from the beginning of 1897. The Annual General Reports of the inspectors are appended. EXPENDITURE. 38. The expenditure on Primary Education was £192,074 17s. On Grammar Schools and University Education it was £13,713 11s. 9d. On Technical Education, the Museum, and Schools of Arts it was £5,974 14s. 1d. The whole sum spent on Education was £211,763 2s. 10d., being £7,502 13s. 5d. more than was spent in 1895. 39. In the following tabular statement the gross departmental expenditure in 1896 is compared in detail with that in 1895: Passed. PERCENTAGE of Passes, 1800. PERCENTAGE OF PASSES, 1895. increase. 40. In the following tabular statement is given an analysis of the increase in Items of the expenditure on Primary Education alone :- and provisional 41. Of £192,074 17s., the total cost of Primary Education, £156,181 12s. 8d., Cost of State must be charged to the State schools, and £35,893 4s. 4d. to the provisional schools. schools. 42. The cost of administration was £5,162 3s. 4d., or about 2-4 per cent. of Administration. gross departmental expenditure. the 43. The cost of inspection was £5,910 18s. 2d., or a little over 3 per cent. of Inspection. the expenditure on Primary Education alone. State schools. 44. In State schools the average cost per head during the twenty-one years Cost per head in ending 31st December, 1896, was as follows: 45. In provisional schools the average cost per head during the twenty-one Cost per head in years ending 31st December, 1996, was as follows: Year. Based on the Based on the provisional schools. Based on the 1887 ... 1877 1 16 9 2 4 71 3 4. 1888 1889 1890 2 7 8 2 16 10 3 17 41 1880 2 1 14 46. For all schools-State and provisional-the total expenditure on Primary Cost per head Education, £192,074 17s., divided by the average daily attendance, 54,316, gives based on average £3 10s. 8d. as the average cost of each pupil in attendance all over the service. In 1895 it was £3 16s. 91d. attendance. |