per cent. each on the average, and five of them (three pupil teachers and two AppendixD. monitresses), answered each on the average, at the oral examination, 66.1 Reports These young persons are instructed, outside of school-hours, upon by the head teachers and their assistants, in rotation, who get them to District write exercises from time to time, which are marked and preserved for Model the inspection of Dr. Brown and myself. During the year 1873-4 there was an increase in the average attendance of nearly 20 per cent., and I have no doubt that the current year will show as great, if not a greater increase, as the teachers all, with perhaps, one exception, are working efficiently, and are giving Dr. Brown, who takes the deepest interest in the school, and myself great satisfaction. The following table gives the averages on rolls and in daily attendance for the year 1872, and the last financial year: and Minor Schools. Cork. Judging from the per-centages of number on rolls that were in daily attendance, the pupils attended more regularly in 1873-4 than in 1872, which, by-the-way, I should mention was an exceptional year in Cork, as small-pox was very prevalent for several months. The literary classification of the pupils whose names were on rolls at the close of these years indicated nearly the same amount of proficiency, as close on 50 per cent. in each case were in the three higher classes. In the sixth, or highest class, however, there was a large increase in favour of the latter year, as it contained 17.7 per cent. of the entire number on rolls, whereas at the close of 1872 it contained only 10-4 per cent. Subjoined is the classification, according to proficiency, of the 518 pupils whose names appeared on rolls on the 31st March last :— The classification of these 518 pupils according to their religious denominations is given in the next following table, and shows, in comparison with that for 1872, an increase of one member of the late Established Church, 32 Roman Catholics, 11 Presbyterians, and 3 of other denominations-total, 47. Several Protestant parochial schools in Cork have been recently connected with the Board, and this may account for the smallness of the increase in the number of late Established Church pupils, as compared Iwith that of other denominations. The school fees, which amounted to £323 3s. 11d. in 1872, increased INFANT, FEMALE, MALE, Reports upon District AppendixD. to £354 1s. during the year 1873-4, showing an increase of 10 per cent. only, whilst the average attendance increased by 19 per cent. This, I dare say, was owing to the comparatively larger number that paid the higher rates in the former year than in the latter. The following table gives the classification of the pupils whose names were on the rolls on the 31st March last, according to the rates of school fees they were paying :Girls. Infants. Total. Per-centage. and Minor Model Schools. Cork. Boys. The annual examination of the pupils, and the distribution of premiums took place in October, and occupied the District Inspector and myself seven or eight days. A fair idea of the proficiency of the different classes may be formed from the annexed table, exhibiting the number of passes made by each class in the subjects prescribed for it on the programme : It will be seen from the foregoing table that the boys made 70 per cent. of passes, the girls 85, and the infants 90, and that the fourth class in the male department made 56-9 only. The higher per-centages of passes made in 1872, as compared with those made last year, may, perhaps, be attributed to the fact that the pupils had been longer in their respective classes at the examination held in the former than in the *Not including 1 boy and 10 girls who are free. +Sewing Machine. latter. The examinations were equally difficult, and the teachers did Appendix.D. not relax their efforts to improve their pupils in the interval between Reports them. I have the honour to be, gentlemen, your obedient servant, The Secretaries, Education Office. upon District and Minor Model Schools. No. 12.-ANNUAL REPORT upon the CLONMEL DISTRICT MODEL Clonmel. SCHOOL, for the year ended 31st March, 1874, by EDWARD SHEEHY, Esq., Head Inspector. Cork, May, 1874. GENTLEMEN,-I beg to submit, for the information of the Commissioners, the following report on the Clonmel District Model School, for the financial year ended the 31st March last. Since I reported on this establishment before, three of the school-rooms have been improved in appearance by the fresh colouring of the walls. Some sewers have been opened on the premises for carrying away the surface water, and plastering has been put on the walls of the girls' school-room to prevent dampness. Drinking fountains are needed for the use of the pupils, and some loads of sand are required for the walks in front of the building, and for the playgrounds to the rere. The teaching staff at the close of the year referred to, consisted of three head teachers-one for each department, two assistants-one for the male, and the other for the female department, two pupil teachers, and two male and six female monitors. The assistantship, which had been so long vacant in the male department, was filled up by the appointment of Mr. Ardell, formerly a pupil teacher in the Limerick Model school. Comparing the number of senior and junior teachers with the average attendance, it will be seen that there was an instructor for every nine pupils, not including the visiting teachers, who give instruction in drawing and singing. Three pupil teachers attended the examinations last year, and each answered on the average 52.3 per cent. at the written, and 44.9 per cent. only at the oral examination, whereas each of the three female monitors that attended the written examination answered 77 per cent. on the average, and one of them that attended the oral answered 69.5 per cent. Want of a male assistant for the greater part of the year, and of suitable candidates for the office of pupil teacher, will account in some measure for the great difference in the answering. I trust, from the zeal and skill which Mr. Ardell displays, that the answering of the pupil teachers will henceforth be satisfactory, and worthy of a Model School. There has been a considerable increase in the attendance during the year, particularly in the male department, as will be seen from the subjoined table, giving the averages on rolls and in attendance during the last financial year, and the years 1872 and 1873 : Reports upon District Appendix D. The large attendance in the male department, as compared with that in each of the other two, is owing, I believe, not to superior teaching; for if it were, the girls and infants would be more numerous than the boys, but to the constant communication between the head master and the parents of his pupils, a practice which cannot be too strongly recommended to teachers. and Minor Model Clonmel. The literary classification of the pupils, given in the annexed table, shows that the pupils in the higher classes form at present a larger proportion of the entire attendance than they did in 1872, and implies that the school as well as the individual pupils, is progressing. It will be seen from the next table that during the fifteen months ended the 31st March last, the number of Established Church pupils on rolls decreased by a sixth, whilst the Roman Catholic pupils increased by a third, those of other denominations undergoing little or no change. Nevertheless, the number of Protestant pupils, as compared with the gross population of Protestants, is larger than that of the Roman Catholic pupils, as compared with the gross population of Roman Catholics. The Per-centage, 40.9 51.3 5.8 ages of the boys on rolls on the 31st March last were on the average 11.9 years; of the girls, 108, and of the infants, 5.8. More than 50 per cent. were over nine years of age, and about 8 per cent. were over 15 years. Although the total amount of school fees received in the three departments during the last financial year, exceeded by £12 that which was received in the year 1872, owing to the increase in the attendance, yet there had been a decrease, on the whole, during the fifteen months ended the 31st March last, in the number that pay the higher rates, arising from a great decrease in that respect in the female department, as shown by the following table: Each pupil in daily average attendance during the year 1872, paid on Appendix D. an average 14s. 4d., whilst during the last financial year he or she paid Reports only 138. This decrease in the case of each pupil's payment is not con- upon fined to the female department, but extends in a less degree to the other District two departments. and Minor Model Clonmel. The annual examination, which extended over three days, was con- Schools. dueted by the District Inspector and myself in the beginning of October. We noted, as on a former occasion, the answering of each pupil on the examination roll, and by this means we were enabled to ascertain not merely the best answerers in each class to whom premiums were to be awarded, but also to find out who were fit to pass in each subject and class, and what amount of results fees for those who passed was to be awarded to each teacher. In the subjoined table are given, in a summarized form, the results of our examination of those pupils that made 90 or more attendances during the twelve months ended the tember, 1873: 30th Sep It will be seen from this table that the answering of the boys was fair, but 7 per cent. below what it was in 1872, and that of the girls and infants very good. It is to be borne in mind, that the male department was for a long time without an assistant, and that, of course, the proficiency of the classes was not as high as at our former examination. The amount of results fees which the passes of the 37 boys examined brought in the teachers was £12 13s. 6d. ; of the 28 girls, £12 12s. and of the 20 infants, was £3 108., so the answering of each boy on the average entitled the teachers to 6s. 10d., of each girl |