Appendix D. Attendance and School fees. Mr. The number of infants examined for results was 622, and the number who passed 616. V. Character of pupils' attendance.-The number of pupils on the rolls on the last day of the month preceding the examination of 105 schools which were examined for results was 11,428, and the daily average Macdonnell. attendance for the twelve months ending the same day was 5,869. This gives 108.8 on rolls, and 55.8 daily average attendance for each school. The daily average attendance for the previous year was 55.9. The number of pupils who made ninety and upwards of attendances during the year in 104 schools was 7,190, and of this number 6,781 came forward for examination. This* shows that 63.6 per cent. of all the pupils on the rolls made ninety and upwards of attendances during the year, and that sixty per cent. were present for examination. Thus it appears that forty per cent. of the pupils bring nothing to the teachers in the way of results fees. This also is the per-centage of pupils who pay no school-fees. On this subject I would venture to suggest that results fees, but on a lower scale than the existing one, should be allowed for pupils who make from sixty to ninety attendances during the year. VI. Summary of results examinations— Number of schools examined and results tabulated, 104 6,788 Mr. Seymour. 0 5 11 0 1 8 15 0 11 6 14 1 Taking all the circumstances of the district into consideration, I believe the state of education is as fair, and the results as good as could reasonably be expected. District 59, Dunmanway; Mr. Seymour.-During the past year the newly introduced results system has been in full and active operation, and its effects have been for the first time sensibly felt both by teachers and pupils. The former are now in a position to see that regular and well-sustained work on their part will be necessary in order to have their classes well prepared for the annual examination, while the latter, or at least their natural guardians, should now be more impressed than ever with a sense of the advantages to be gained by regular and punctual attendance at school. The new system, when corrected and reformed, by the light of experience, which it has already been to a considerable extent, must appear to every one more consistent with the progressive spirit of the times and rapid march of events, than the slower and less systematic procedure of former years. Now, a pupil who attends school during a fair proportion of the twelve months is sure of promotion to a higher class after he passes at the results examination, while formerly, under a careless teacher, he would have remained in the background. As far as this district is concerned, the new arrangement worked very smoothly during the past year, but partial difficulties will be more apparent on next occasion. It can hardly be expected that a pupil in fifth or sixth class shall have read carefully through his class-book so as to be able to answer satisfactorily on any portion of it during the interval between one annual examination and the next; and yet, if less proficiency than this will entitle him to a "pass" in reading, there is a * One school excluded, as the accounts could not be relied upon. Mr. manifest danger of his being promoted on an insufficient knowledge of AppendixD. the programme for his present class (as to pass in reading and spelling Attendance alone, at present constitutes a claim to promotion), and if he is so pro-and Schoolmoted the chances are greatly against his being able to pass in the higher fees. class, except, perhaps, to the same limited extent in the succeeding year. It would appear then to be necessary either to extract a very high Seymour. degree of proficiency in reading (the possession of which by any pupil might be fairly assumed to imply a fair acquaintance with the other branches) in order to secure a pass in this subject, or else to make it indispensable for a pupil to qualify in a majority of the subjects of any class, including reading, before he can be considered to have passed in that class. There has been a falling off in the amount of school-fees paid by the pupils in several of the schools of the district, during the past year, to a considerable extent. The teachers are not, in my opinion, acting wisely in not requiring those fees to be paid as formerly, and in competing with each other to attract pupils to their schools, with a view to increasing their chances from results fees. The agitation for an increase of class salary from Government sources still continues, but the parents of the children are allowed to shirk paying their just contribution towards the teacher's maintenance. It is evident that the attractions of appointments in other departments of the Civil Service will permanently diminish the supply of young teachers. Many young men now take the position merely for a time, while they are preparing for some other situation. An increased scale of pay from the Board will alone check this tendency. District 60, Cork; Dr. Brown.-Last year I made little reference to Dr. Brown. the system of "payment by results," as it was then in its infancy, and my connexion with this district was too recent to enable me to speak with any confidence; but, as I have now two years' experience of its working, I will briefly state how it appears to have affected the state of education and the teachers. One cannot help being struck with the new life which animates both teachers and children. With rare exceptions, the teachers are working with great energy to prepare their pupils for the examinations, and where they fail to attain the desired results, it is from no lack of zeal but from want of skill or from the unfavourable conditions under which they work. In many cases the children appear as anxious about the results of the examination as the teachers. They frequently ask, "Did I pass?"—"How many good marks did I get?"—" Did I fail in any subject?"- May I go into a higher class?" Their work is now very definite. They set about it in a business-like manner, and their rate of progress is greatly increased. The infants' and first class, which were formerly most neglected, now receive most careful attention, and their improvement is most striking, indeed much greater than in the senior classes. There is good reason to expect that when these carefullyinstructed juniors are advanced to the higher classes, they will acquit themselves more creditably than those senior who were examined during the past year. Arithmetic is the only subject in the school course that is likely to retrograde under the results system, as it has been carried out for the last two years. A pass in reading and any other literary subject necessitated the removal of a pupil to a higher class, and as the failures in arithmetic were nearly three times as numerous as in writing, a large proportion of the children were advanced to higher classes before they Appendix D. were qualified in arithmetic. In fact, they were neither able to do the Attendance arithmetic of the lower class which they left, nor fit to learn that of the and School- higher class to which they were advanced. This state of things, if continued, would have had a disastrous effect on proficiency in this most Dr. Brown. important subject; but I have reason to believe that a recent change in what constitutes a pass for promotion to a higher class will remedy this defect. fees. The teachers have now a direct personal interest in the attendance of the pupils, and are making great exertions to secure regularity, and the managers are using their influence to promote the same desirable end. The result is, that there is an increase in the average attendance of the district of about nine per cent. for the year. The total amount of results fees earned in 106 schools which I examined myself is £2,281 15s., being an average of £21 10s. 6d. per school-5s. 6d. for each pupil examined, and 5s. for each pupil in average attendance; and there is an increase in the fees received from the children. Several teachers have incomes from their schools of considerably over £100 a year--in a few cases over £150, and one earned £105 by his science classes, making his total income over £250 a year. But, on the other hand, there are still a few teachers whose total income from their schools is under £40 a year. SUMMARIES OF TABLES RETURNED BY THE DISTRICT INSPECTORS IN THEIR ANNUAL REPORTS FOR 1873-4. No. 1.-Classification of Schools, with regard to Building and Repairs— Furniture and Apparatus-Premises, Playgrounds, &c.-Outoffices-Space Accommodation-Supply of Books and other Requisites, 2.-Classification of Schools, as to Observance of Cleanliness, Neatness, Page 346 348 349 |