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DUCATION

CHAPTER XX

N Natal, public education — which is modelled as far as possible on the English system — is compulsory as far as all children are concerned who are residing within three miles of a Government or Government-aided school.

The State expenditure in 1909-10 was £130,747 17s. 7d. At present there are 578 schools under Government inspection :—342 European schools, 175 Native schools, 36 Indian schools, and 25 schools for coloured children, with an average enrolment of 31,972 ; consisting of 13,999 Europeans, 13,452 Natives, 3,387 Indians, and 1,134 coloured children.

The average daily attendance is, in European schools, 84 per cent, of the average number enrolled ; in Native schools, 82 per cent. ; in Indian schools, 77 per cent. ; and in schools for coloured children, 82 per cent.

Of the 578 schools, 57 have been established and are maintained exclusively by the Government. The other schools are either proprietary, denominational, or schools under the actual or nominal control of local committees, receiving grants varying from £3 to £500 a year. Nearly all the Native and Indian schools are directly connected with the various religious bodies in the Province.

The Government schools consist of two High schools, 46 Primary schools, two Art schools, five Indian schools, and two schools for coloured children.

Pietermaritzburg has one High school and three Primary schools, and Durban one High school and seven Primary schools. Of the remaining Primary schools, one is at Bellair, one at Greenwood Park, and 34 are country schools established in the chief centres of population. Pietermaritzburg has one Art, one Indian, and one school for coloured children, while Durban has the other Art, the other school for coloured children, and the remaining four Indian schools.

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