WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 1970.

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32361, 29 July 1970, Page 16

WEDNESDAY, JULY 29, 1970.

Teachers’ Salaries The impression might well be gained from some teachers’ statements that their profession had not enjoyed the pay increases given to other State employees. Some off-guard remarks by the Minister of Education (Mr Taiboys) in a television interview have provided an opportunity for discontented teachers to vent their displeasure; and some have obviously attempted to make capital out of the opportunity. Although the leaders of the main teachers’ organisations appear to be satisfied with the attitude of Mr Taiboys towards their pay claims and towards teachers and education generally, it will do the profession no credit if some teachers persist in disregarding all that Mr Taiboys has said before and since the television interview. But the most significant aspect of the recent moves by teachers is that many appear to be at odds with the leaders of their own organisations, or appear to misunderstand the procedure by which their salary scales are now revised. The claims on behalf of primary school teachers for higher salaries have been under review for many months, and even if it is conceded that a thorough examination of present salaries and conditions must precede the determination of the claims, it is hardly surprising that many teachers are restive about the delay. As post-primary teachers had a claim submitted on their behalf to the Education Service Committee as recently as this month, the reason for the outcries by teachers in the secondary schools is much less readily found. They have had long enough to urge their representatives to seek earlier action on salary claims both by the Post-Primary Teachers’ Association and by the Education Service Committee. The recent outburst of impatience, stimulated as it was by some injudicious remarks from Mr Taiboys which scarcely represented his known views on the status and rewards for teachers, is characteristic of a mood that prevails in many employees’ organisations. But as an effort to arouse public—and taxpayers’— support for generous salary increases it could hardly have been more unwisely conceived or pursued. The teachers’ claim is essentially a plea to improve their relative position in the community. When demands for changes in Government spending—both for more and for less spending—are heard on all sides, the teaching profession would be well advised to pay more attention to convincing taxpaying parents and others of the need for higher salaries than to fighting a mock battle with a Minister who is likely to be well disposed to any properly calculated recommendations put to him by the Education Service Committee.