FEMALE TEACHERS.

Press, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5280, 7 August 1882, Page 3

FEMALE TEACHERS.

so xhb amxoß 07 thh bbsbs. Six,—-I shall bo glad of a little space in your column* to bang to the notice of the public the anomalous petition of female teachers in the side schools, both as regards pay and the amenities of life. The district in which I reside has both a main and a skW sebooL The average attendance at the tetter is about 30. The instruction embraces fire standard* and an infant class outside of j them, which means six classes to attend to. j The ages o! the pupils range from five to! fourteen yean. It will be seen at a glancethata considerable degree of activity, bot&. of mind and body, is absolutely essential toj the successful management of a school em oompoeed. This has to be done without any aeriitance, no pupil teaehera being allowed| Parents who know how troublesome young, children are, and bow difficult to keep oat o: mischief, will readfly understand, what c young mistress without an assistant has t< contend with, who has-to carry on the inf etrnotion of each elaas, and at same time maintain complete order amongst aIL The? wear and tear of mind and, body ere inoonf oaivable, and enough to sefld anyone bo en| gaged to a lunatio asylum in a short whiles The remuneration for this everlasting grind* ia £75 or £80 a Tear. Many will exolaiof Quite enough! But let them hold -for tf moment ot two before giving an opinion! The mistress of the main school get* £1201 year, just £40 a year more. For what! For teaching the infant class—perh&pp twenty or thirty children—the merest rudiments, & thing that anyone without a oertifioate could do. No responsibility restt upon her shoulders as those of her side* school sister. There is no difficulty of keepf ing order amongst bo young a flock, with tbp dose proximity of the master's birch, Is fact such a position is a perfect! sinecure M comparison with that of a side-eohooL I Then, again, as regards the social aspect off the question. The Eide>sohool young or ol<§ lady, has all the disadvantages which an out? lying and sparsely populated part of the die® trict is sure, to offer. Suitable lodgings arf difficult to get, and being searoe, are so muclf dearer and inferior. As to society, she snuuf either put up with her own or seek it amongsSr the farmers' wires, who are, as a okas, rod jr and uncultivated, and whose ideas never renel beyond the cowhouie: and pigstye. Shonlf there be a magnate or two in the neighbor* hood, they, on the other hasd, are ohary o£ allowing any familiar intercourse with memf bers of their families, and they hold aloof accordingly. Thus, the side school mistress if doomed for her term of servitude to a life oft drudgery without one compensating oiroara| stance. % Sir, I might say very much more, but what* j I have written will, I trust, evoke some eym-v 1 pathy and cause inquiry to be made into e| state of things as affecting side school female? teachers, which reflects no credit upon the public that permit* it. P ;•■■■■■• Yours, &s., - ./ ' ' ' : % A PABSST WHO THINKS THE tXS SHOTTLB BSI '■ gßopoßTioyßP,iajaat^fflPi^fe^^