TEACHERS’ SALARIES

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 96, 18 January 1924, Page 8

TEACHERS’ SALARIES

NEW SCALE GAZETTED TO OPERATE FROM FEBRUARY “REVOLUTIONARY,- BUT NOT ALARMING” New salary regulations for primary school teachers were gazetted .yesterday, in pursuance of a scheme by which, it is .stated, teachers will be able to obtain foundation in salary graded in the positions held instead of seeking promotion by frequent transfers. Changes in staffs have in the past been so frequent that the school work has in particular cases been severely disorganised. The regulations are highly technical, and comparisons between the new scale and the present one are difficult because the salary grades have been regrouped It is stated, however, that with the exception of training college pupil teachers and probationers, there is no actual reduction in the salary prospects, though at first slight, owing to the regrouping there is an apparent reduction. Women teachers will benefit substantially. Head teachers are not affected. The new salary scale will come into operation on February 1, and will apply to all appointments made as from that date. Elaborate provisions are set out to guard against a anomalies. For example :— Under Clause 3 the salaries under these regulations, payable from February 1, 1924, to teachers who entered upon their duties prior to that date, and continue to hold the same positions shall be determined as follow;— (1) In any case where the previous maximum salary is equal to or higher than the new maximum salary the teacher shall continue to receive the same salary and annual increments as if these regulations had not come into force. (2) In any case, where the previous maximum salary is les& than the new maximum salary—(a) If the teacher has not reached the previous maximum: (i) Ho shall continue to receive, on February 1 of each year, the annual increments until "he reaches the previous maximum to which he was entitled before these regulations came into force: (ii) On February 1 next, after reaching that maximum, he shall receive the increment required to bring his salary up to the next higher salary in the new grade; and (iii) He shall, on each subsequent February 1, receive the annual increment provided by these regulations until he reaches his new maximum. (b) If he has reached his previous aximum—(i) On February 1, 1924, he shall receive the 'increment required to bring his salary up to the next higher salary in the new grade; (ii) On each subsequent February 1 he shall receive the annual increment provided by these regulations until he reaches his new maximum. (3) In any case, when the salary to which a teacher would have been entitled on February 1, 1924, under the regulations is less'than the minimum of the new grade of salary, the ■feather’s, ciommencing sJa.lary under! these regulations shall be such minimum: ’ . , , Provided that in the case of those teachers who, as a result of these amendments, are placed in a lowergrading group and in consequence receive an increase in their grading addition under clause 4 and schedule A of the regulations as amended (c.g„ male assistants of grade 3 and female assistants of grades 4, 5. and 6) the commencing salary payable .on February 1. 1924, under this clause shall be correspondingly reduced by the amount of such increase, and also tho maximum salary payable under clause 3 of the regulations, provided that such maximum is not made less than the new maximum. ANOTHER INTERPRETATION “REDUCING ASSISTANTS.” In the opinion of an education authority the negotiations disclose reductions all round in the case of assistants. Under the old scale, to give two instances according to this authority in question, a woman assistant’s salary commenced at *l6O as a woman’s and now is £156 and as the minimum* the new scale will be £135 a year and £lO grading allowance. A man’s salary was the same as a woman’s and now is. £loo ano £lO gi'adinc as the minimum. 11l grade '7 schools an assistant’s salary was £350 and £2O minimum grading allowance for both sexes but is under the new scheme £2BB to £324 with minimum gradmg allowance ot £lO for a man. and £2BO to £30(1I with minimum grading allowance ot £lO lor women. There are reductions ot £lO a rear in probationers’ pay, and reductions in' training. college. teachers salaries Assistants in district high schools a.nd separate infants schools are al so affected. No alteration is made in headteachers’ salaries. The salaries for assistants are based on tho following scale:—Grade 1 salary for men £156 with an annual increment of £l2 up to £204, and a gradiiur increment of £lO upwards, for women. £135 with an annual in-, crement of £lO up to £l(o and a rrraclin" increment of £’o upwards; arade‘2 salary, men £228 to £276; women. £l9O to £240; grade 3 salary, men £ 9 SB to £324; women, £2BO to £3OO There is also a grade 4 salary for men, £336 to £384. but ns there is no grade 4 salary in the table for mixed and separate primary schools, the reason for it is a matter of guesswork . , . ~ W : th tho different salaries thus defined, an examination of the main proposals is possible, for the salaries table is subject to variations on . a most unaccountable basis. For instance. in a grade IVa. or TVb. school, the salary for a first assistant, if a man. is £156 to £204; if a woman, £l9O to £240. But in a IVc. school, the salary of a man first assistant is £228 to £276, and of a woman, £l9O to £240, so that a woman first assrifant will get as much in a. school of 160 pupils as she will be paid in a school of 280: hut a. man first assistant will get £72 more in the larger school. In a 320 school a man first assistant w’ll get £228 to £276, but a woman first assistant’s salary will be £ 9 20 to £270. In the higher grades of school the difference in the salary of first assistant between the sexes is £8 to> £24. Thon another anomaly creeps in with the second assistant. Tn schools with an attendance of from 81 to 160 the second assistant, if a man. gets £156 to £204: if a woman, £135 to £175. When the attendance is from 161 to 240 a man still gets £156 to £204, but a woman is paid £l9O to £240. In a school of 241 to 400 a man second assistant is paid £228 to £276. £3O to £36 more than a woman; but when the attendance ranges from 401 to 480, the woman receives £2BO to £3OO, nnd the man

only £228 to £276. When the attendance is over 481, the man second assistant is paid £2BB to £324, and the woman still £2BO to £3OO. The following table shows th A assistants’ salaries in the various schools, men and women, the .numbers signifying : 1, for men £153 io £204, for women £135 to £175; 2. for nmn £228 to £276, for women £l9O to £240 ; 3, for men £2BB to £324, for women £2BO to £3OO. And, m addition, the first female assistants in schools graded VB, VC, VIA, and the second female assistants in schools graded VII, receiving £3O extia:-— Attendance. Assistants. 81 to 120 M. 11 or F ’■ 121 to 160 It. 11 or F. 21 161 to 200‘ M. 1111 or F. 2211 201 to 240 M. 211 or F. 2211 241 to 280 M 2211 cr F. 2211 281 to 320 M. 2211 or F. 222.11 321 to 360 M. 22211 or F 22211 361 to 400 M. 222111 or F. 3221111 HOI to 440 3>f. 3221111 or 1.3322111 441 to 400 M. 32221111 or F. 33221111 481 to 520 M. 332221111 or F 4322211111 521 to 560 M. 3322211111 or F. 33'22221111 “REVOLUTIONARY, BUT NOT ALARMING” Questioned last night as to the new regulations, another authority said: "The regulation is somewhat revolutionary, but not alarming. The costwill be the same in the aggregate, btU women will receive less than men, by from 10 to 12 per cent;. There will be three grades of teachers, instead cf seven, and teachers will not have to move from school to school to gain then promotion. The regulations provide for a country allowance train £lO to £25. according as the school is remote from centres of population ”