TEACHERS' SALARIES.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 291, 2 September 1908, Page 6

TEACHERS' SALARIES.

On Thursday last, the Minister for Education, speaking on the motion to go into Committee on the Education Bill, delivered a speech on the general principles and aims of the measure, in which he laid himself open to some severe criticism. There were statements sub; mittcd which cannot bear close scrutiny,, but the absence of anything approaching, criticism or even review of these state-) monts in the debate which followed j clearly shows that members have allowed j themselves to be unduly influenced by the alluring prospect which the Minister assured the House would be opened up for school-teachers should the Bill become law. In justice, let it be said that so far as the administrative aspects of the new measure arc concerned the position of the teachers will be vastly improved under the amending clauses of the Bill. There can be no question about that. But when the Minister went into figures in support of his contention that not only would an immediate benefit bo conferred upon teachers under the new scale, but their subsequent promotion to positions of comparative affluence would be practically assured, he ventured upon/ rather thin ice. Calculated upon a basi: of average ability, he asserted, the schcmc of promotion, which was based partly upon small annual increments, and partly upon transfers from grade to grade, would secure for the young teacher of 29 n. salary of £530 por ivnnumi At the salary, would riso to £150 aad house'

allowance; from 25 to 2S it would mount to £165; at 23 he would be transferred to grade 4, with £180 .and house allowance; at 31 ho would be in grade 5, as first assistant in a school of grade 8, with a salary of £210; at 3'l he would bo first assistant in a large school with a salary of £270, rising in four years to £290. The salary would reach £310 with house allowance when the teacher attained the age of 38, rising to £340 in six years, when he would transfer to grade 9, carrying a salary of £340, rising to £370. At the ago of 44, the salary would bo £370, rising to £400.

This is an alluring prospect, and if by any means it could possibly be consummated, the school-teachers throughout New Zealand would no doubt be perfectly satisfied. But there are several reasons why it can never be consummated; it 1 is beautiful in theory, but quite impossible in practice. Why 1 The scale of promotion is certainly not automatic. There is nothing in the administrative provisions of the Bill which ensures to the teacher of average ability certain and periodic promotion, and the Minister certainly could not have intended to convoy that impression. Wliat he actually meant was that the working of the scheme would, in theory, achieve practically the same result, arid therein ho is quite in error. According to the returns submitted in the Minister's annual report, which was recently presented to Parliament, there are only 29 positions in all the schools of the Dominion which offer salaries of £375 and over, and these, the Minister assured the House, could be attained by teachers of average ability by the time they reached the age of 44. A little reflection should have shown members of the House that men in these positions, having reached the top of the tree, so to speak, would probably, nay, inevitably, retain them until the retiring age, and, therefore, opportunities of applying for these highlypaid positions would be very rare indeed, and available, moreover, only to men of exceptional ability. In contrast to this, there is the fact that out of a total of 1963 schools in New Zealand, 1586 are under 80 in average attendance, arid in no cases carry salaries of £200. Then, again, it'is a well-known fact that it is a difficult, almost helpless, matter for a teacher in the smaller education districts—Marlborough, Grey, and Westland—to enter the larger districts, where the prospects are brighter. If he remains where ho is he may look forward to something like this:—ln Marlborough, the best position carries a salary of £300 a year; two carry £235 per annum; two £225; and one £205. In Grey, there is one position of £370; one of £250, one of £235, two of £225, and one of £215. In Westland, the highest position '■ carries £275 per annum. These figures are taken from this year's report. The Minister states that compared with the English scale our teachers are liberally paid. That is beside the question. The' point is that tho remuneration of the teaching profession is not commensurate with their services and responsibilities. These- services and responsibilities arc as high aS those of other departments of State, and that this is not recognised in England is no reason why it should not be recognised in New Zealand.