THE EDUCATION BILL

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2219, 4 August 1914, Page 7

THE EDUCATION BILL

POSITION OF SECONDARY SCHOOL ASSISTANTS ,\ PLEA FOR CONSIDERATION Tho executive of the New Zealand Secondary Schojjls Assistants' Association has brought under the notice of the Education Committee and of members of Parliament its views on the Education'Bill now before the House. Tho association admits that.tho Bill will he of some advantage to the male assistants of the smaller secondary schools, and to many of the female assistants in tho secondary schools for girls,. but regrets that no .Dominion scale of salaries has been introduced,: or ''that our association's salary scheme was, not adopted by the ' Minister of Education: (a) Without a Dominion scale the secondary teacher has' before him or her no definite promotion ladder, (b) Even with £200 or £150 aa tho minimum salary for appointment, no inducement is, under the present system, offered to men and women to remain in the service,. . Three-quarters of the secondary school. teaoliers, ~ particularly men with families, aro forced to supplement their, meagre incomes by talsing outside work after school hours." "In secondary schools a young teacher (male) is usually appointed at £200 per annum. He can rise (if he rer mains) to £330 or perhaps to £350' at the outside; but in how many years P There are senior assistants, with the highest qualifications, who have taken -twenty-five, thirty-three, and thirtyeight years to advanco from £200 ' to £330.. 'Contrast this with what obtains in primary Bchools. There .a junior teacher commences at £100; by the new Bill he rises to £310 in a definite number of years. He more than trebles his initial' salary, and reaches this maximum by definite annual increments within & stated time. We secondary teaohers with a four years' University training behind us start later, rise by haphazard inoreases of how £5, How £10, with no definite promotion ladder us; and'when woreach the "sere and yellow leaf" have gained' an' average increment of £3 or £4' per year. Even then we do not get £330 or £350. .Wo .pay, £20 'towards superannuation, and, in addition, income tax too. Again, there are some twenty-two secondary , schools in New Zealand, and there are some 240 graduated assistants. What chanco has a, senior assistant of obtaining the position of principal, even supposing -the principal is chosen from among the 225? ."Failing the introduction of a Dominion scheme, which we still hope will ho considered, failing tho introduction of a Dominion scale, then we would respeotfully ask that'the general'average salary to'be paid to male assistants, viz.. £250,'. be raised'to at least .£3OO, and .the general average of £175 in the case of female assistants be' raised to at least £200. ' On the basis of £250 for males (173),. and £157, for females (126), the cost would be £66j300; on the basis 0f.£300 for males and'£2oo for females, £77,100; increase, £10,800.' This .increase is. only some £4100 more than the estimated increase iunder the proposed Act, which is given as £6677. Wo would, however, point out that even ithis increase, viz., £10,800, would hardly suffice to pay' lis on a professional basis. If it is not intended that we.are to be Glassed as professional men and women, then'no more need be said. "We fail.to see hoiv the scale of payin Schedule X; will prove adequate enough for certain, schools to pay salaries provided by' the-Bill. : For'example, a certain school A is in this posir ticn:— '.1.. - • ■• ' - '■ • •

Boys -oh .roll as-at March 1,. '. ■!. 1914. ;.>.........■... ;.....*..„. 454 Salaries to be paid account to y 8i11.....>..;. £5,675 Salaries (total) as now. paid ... £5,276 Increase'in salaries demanded .by Bill i ...'....,....... £400 "But the inorease. in grant ; yields only £385 from 385 free-placeSpupils at. £1 per head.—The toard aust/therefore/find £15. Another schools (girls') B is in this position:— :'','■'•■'.' ■■'.''.£';'e. Numbei 1 on roll ae at Mardh 1, ' 1914 327 0 Salaries to be paid account •'■to Bill u;..,. 4,087 10 Salaries (total) now paid .1. $,170 0 Increase in salaries demanded

, .by Bill ,:.i... 917 10 'Increase of gTant yields £270 from 270 free-place pupils at'£l per head. '• Tlie bbafd must find £647 10s.

- ''In a third: school jC, which is one of the smaller secondarj' schools; the improvement is to this effect: £200 vided among nine teachera. *■

"In a fourth school D it is estimated that £1600 wili have to be spent where under, the; now Act only £700 is provided."- ' ,' ' ( ! "In the' fifth school F (girls'), which is practically unendowed, the capitation grarit will be £13 10s. The number On the roll is 300, on which about 5 per cent, aro paying pupils. If £12 10s. per head is to be paid in salaries it will leavo. about £1 per head for general expenses, including the interest on money raised some time back to put up new buildings. The .margin £1 per head is clearly insufficient. Again, there are four mistresses who receive salaries .below £160; by tho time these, are raised what chance have the senior teachers of having their salaries improved? _ "The executive regrets that the question of superannuation is not dealt with in the proposed- Bill. The secondary teacher is worse off than tho primary teacher; the latter counts his service from the time he commences as a pupil teacher; the former after spending some years; in university or some equivalent training and thus, as he fondly believes, better fitting himself to take a higher position in the educational world, finds .himself _ penalised in that he cannot count his years of servioe until he actually commences teaching in a secondary school. Again, the primary teacher has a raiich better security of tenure under the proposed Bill. The secondary teacher has none. He has the Appeal,, Board certainly, but even if be is not dismissed he may be starred into dismissal by having; his salary reduced. This, in the absenco of a Dominion scale, is quite possible in the case of secondary, school teaohers, but it is not possible in the case of primary school te dehors who do have a Dominion scale. Obviously, the three last years of a secondary school teacher's service are frequently not his -best years. ' It is tho invidious distinction between teachers and Civil. Servants that wo wish to havo removed."

ASSISTANT MAKTF/RS-IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS. At a representative gathering held yesterday of assistant masters from tho Wairarapa, Manawatu, Hutt Valloy, City'and suburban' state schools, it was unanimously resolved to form an assistant masters' association with the object of protecting the interests' of. assistant masters and to further the cause of education generally, whilo at the same timo, in nowiso running counter te tho general policy of the Teachers' Institute.