TEACHERS SALARIES

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 88, 7 January 1908, Page 5

TEACHERS SALARIES

DISCUSSED BY EDUCATIONAL ' INSTITUTE. , INTERESTING COMPARISONS. . (a? TELEGEArH—SFECIAIi CORRESPONDENT.) ~ 1 ' 1 Auckland, January 6. i. •. In, thoargunWmta advanced ,by Bchool tea^ chors in'support Of tlioir . demands for a -"i 1 higher scalo of salaries than that now exist- - ' mg, a strong point is invariably mado of thb ■ unfavourable,positiohin,respoct to romuncra-i ■' tion -in which tlioy claim that i thoy are, i placed, as compared with othor branchfcs of the, .publicservice. > This aspect of tho quostion .figured largely in>a discussion which JiPPk; place at tho; annualmeeting of tho, ' • 1 Now Zoaland Educational Institute On Satur- ! day afternoon ,in connection, witli a- motion " ' ■ ,to tho effoct. that .tho Minister for Education should bo asked to provide for "salaries that '' , aro, adequate, remuneration for tho important ■iwork of our profession." ~M r- J' Caughey (Wellington), in seconding ■ ■ v ; tiio motion quoted an interesting set of ligures. . Starting With pupil-teachers,' ho- . sjiitl that thoro wore now C7I of these tea-* • • cliors receiving from £25 to £55 a year, or a rftto oqii ivalont,to that received by a 1 letter-' ■ ■ 11 boy m tho Postal Dopartment at the '' 1 ■ . Jp L S? al !®', Thero ,wcro 708. adult tcachers • i ; 1 .? • (who,\voro.oxpectcd to bo-trained and-cferlii- , ■■'."v ficatod) m receipt of from £40 to €05, or equal to tho earnings of boy porters, first to fourth year cadets, and cleaners in the Hauways Departmont. i Tho numbor ■of tea- : , cliors lecoiving from £100 to £120 was 695,, and the corresponding service in regard to ■ P.aymont was that,performed' by on, Govornmont ; Btoamer s,? porters' labourers,'*; fencors, crossing-keepers, and fifth year caclota. Toachors ti iUio.' numbor- of 4'i6 <i : ' wore paid from £125 to £150, and similar payment,. was given' to, horse <and'crano' ■: < i drivers, second-class gulirds, etc. Tho sihrusa of 212 toachers, ranged from' £170 to ; ! . ~?80, and tho :sarao remuneration was paid;■ to carpenters and bWksmiths and tenth--' grado.railway traffic clerks, Ho quoted many, • , mp.ro.. similar comparisons., and roferrcd. to a : , • recent^ romarkbv the 1 Prime Minister to tho , " •• effect that in i tlio civil! servico evory cadet <: ,-i °f ordinary ability could rise till' at tho ago of 23 years he would receive a salary of! £200. ' Yet thero wcro 2550 teachers out of , , a total of 3207 who hadfnot yet reached tho i salary of: i2OO, although a largo number of ;■ them were, over 38 years of age, many of 1 thorn boiim 'mamed mtin. ' ; In addition to* 1 the examples cited i'thero', were, Mr: .Canglioy' l , ' said, other salaries'in "ijtho railway, sorvico! 1 I higher than the highest;paid to any teacher., Tbo ; wliolo trouble. about teachers' salaries! seemed' to /have ariseii/jfrom/tbo fact thati many , years.ago, tho Government decided tbati ■ r they - could afford to piy ,15s'. pr>r pupil! for primary education, quito apart from any, consideration as to whether the capitationJ ,grant:,would, mebt: all needs.' '. Th'o/.Goiern;mdnt 'subsequently "frariicd the present scale of salaries upon the-basis ; of:,a giant of! i > 2s. 6d. i)or pupil. ' Thus: tho, prosent scale was, an iniprpyoment upon , tlid old ono, " bht the provision for increase was very small,. ' and many of tho increases wcro morely readjustments.' All, subsequent requests l for ■ 'increases' had been mot .by pointing to tho largo amount of tho education vote, which, : could not bo further materially - increased.' ; The recent increases in the. salaries of rail- ' j way servants bad involved an annual | incrohso ■ of,' 'ospondituro to tho extentf of £60,000, ri'sing, 'with, overtime, tof . I £111,000, yet, in spite of the state, tif affairs! disclosed by theso comparisons, tho lilinistcr, had stated, that, in reconsidering the scaloi of salaries; .during t-lie ,present,, recess, hoi could: not do more than niako a few adjust- ! moiits increases, amounting Jn nil to about £3000 or. ,£'looo. If it! required £60,000' a yoar tb-ljut the payment of 10801101-5 on a, proper; basis the. Government should grant that. suni, as they did in . the, case of t!ie J , railway 'servnnts. It': was ..interesting, h»* ' .•••„• said, to noto that tho New South Wales Parliament had just passed regulations raisingi : tho;;,'salaries of teachers,'to tho extent or £358,000 a year. , , . Mr." W: 11. Ciaik (Southland) briefly re-{ viewed ..'tho position», for tho past;twenty' v years. In .188(5; lie said, £205,597-.was, paid f in salarios to 2721 teachers'in New Zealand,, /including 917 pupil teachejs. In 1898 tho' '■ total pnyniont' was ; £395,831, /distributed amongst 3515 teachers,, including 1043 pupil 1 tenchors. n'hilst in 1900,' £478,000 was re,-, ■ ceivod by 3872 teachers, including 518 pupil tdachbrs.. During tho twenty/years .tho num- ...;.-T her of. : pupils had increased 40 pel: cent.,) whilst tho total amount paid as salary had: increased 50 ,'-per, cent.; Calculated on tho , . ' samo basis as in 1880, tho amount jfiaid iii i 1906 Would have beon £400,000. The net: • • incroase was thns' about £72,000, or about:, 15 ; per cent, abovo what was paid twenty. ■years ago;'; Could thoy, ho oskoa, name anyi ■ other branch'cf .tbe jpublic servico in whicit/ there had not,been a greater increase than! , 15. per cent., whilst the/fact that the, costi V of living bad increased in a. much greater ratio was iiiideniable. The great increase in ■ the education vbtc, of which they heard so* : miichj'had not occurred in toacbcrs' salaries: 1 . i In 1880 : primary school 'touchers' . salaries . ' amounted to about 70 per cent, of the educa- , > tion .vote, but in 1900 the, salaries wcro very littlo over ono-half of tho total vote of 1, 1 £913,660. . ' " '' j ,Mr. F; Hilgendorf (Otagoi said that' rail-> ; j ; v/ay cadets 'received £50, £05 £80,. and £95 • : -,i a as compared ' with £25, ■ £35, £45,,t, '■ ] and; £o5 paid to pupil teachers, and tlm 1 ' v I lodging allowances, of the foi'irier were also' , .much, greater, than those, of tho latter;. Tho' 1 ; ': ,''i greater portion of the late .increase in the | > education'.vote,'he said, was not'going intov the primary .School system, hut into extras. / ' ! instance, ho snid tliat whereas in '^,'' 18SG tho salaries of tho Education- Depart-' i ment s 'officials amounted to '£2000, tliev ; \ ■ reaehod £8000 in 190 G. ■ . . / /Tho motion was carried unanimously. , i .Iho ■ "iniqiutbiis ■ system of payment. of ' 1 salaries on average attendanca " came in foS ' i somo severe handling at the conference. In- < -.tho. > courao,of the discussion, somo instances ,1 oi individual 'hardships consequent on this' system woro mentioned'by Mr. O. D, Fla- i maiik, an Otago delegato. Ho referred to the caso of a teacher who had been thirteen years in tho service, and was receiving tha princely Silary of £110 a'year. This man,' ne said, liad'a_ delicate wifo nnd a; family to' ■ support,' 'but in coiiseqiicnce of a drop in . the attendanco at his school his salary would : ' J probably fall to £90. Tho case of another' :i :teachor, a widower with seven children, whoso : ' salary was being reducctl through tho same ' fro" 1 £120 to £9t)j was also referred to. I thlinc this is scandalous," was Sir. r FlaI .-inank s.• conmuifc on tho cxistonco of such system. •• ■]