TEACHERS’ SALARIES

Dominion, Volume 18, Issue 97, 19 January 1924, Page 8

TEACHERS’ SALARIES

AMENDED REGULATIONS STATEMENT BY THE MINISTER THE NEW CLASSIFICATION The Minister of Education yesterday issued the following statement:—Regulations have just been gazetted, providing for an amended scale ot staffs and salaries for assistant teachers in public’ schools., The mam object of the new scale is to cure admitted serious shortcomings in the present scale —the subject of much complaint from the boards and committees. Under the previous regulations, assistant teachers were divided into seven grades, and, in order to obtain promotion from grade to grade, a teacher had, in general, to transfer from one school to another. This resulted in such frequent changes of staffs that the efficient working of the schools was seriously prejudiced. For instance, in one school there were no less than five changes of teacher for standard 111. in a single year. > The Minister, after consulting the boards and the Teachers’ Institute, decided to improve the conditions by reducing the number of grade of assistants, providing a greater range of salary in each grade, and thus reducing the necessity of frequent transfer in order ■ to gain promotion. This was felt to he in the interests of teacher and pupil alike. The number of grades of assistants has been made three instead of seven, briefly, as follows:—For men, grade 1 (salary £156 to £204) replaces the previous grades 1,2, and 3, the salaries for which ranged from £145 to £213. Similarly, a new grade 2 (£224 to £276) replaces the previous grades 4 and 5 (£223 to £283), and a new grade 3 (£2BB to £324) replaces the previous grades 6 and 7 {(£293 to £333). For women a new grad© 1 (salary £135 to £175 with a country allowance up to £25 according to locality), re- ■ places the previous grades 1,2 and 2A (£145 to £193); a new grade 2 (£l9O to £240, with an addition of £3O in certain cases) replaces the previous grades 3, 4 and 5 (£lB3 to £283) ; and a new grade' 3 (£2BO to £300) replaces the previous grades 6 and 7 (£293 to £303). Compensation for Reduction. The present provision for a married allowance of £4O remains unaltered, but the additional payments of from £2O to £6O, under schedule V. of the regulations to certificated teachers, according to their efficiency, has been amended so as to provide a lesser payment in the case of a very few inefficient teachers. The schedule has also been amended so as to place the new grade I men and women in group 1 of tho grading list, grade 2 women in group 2, grilles 2 men and 3 women in group 3, and grade 3 men m group 4. This latter change will, in effect, add £lO to the new salaries of most men assistants of the present grade 3. and women of grades 4,5, and 6, and will in a measure compensate for apparent reductions in the grade salaries. It will be noted that, while the new maximum salary has been increased in some cases, it has been made less in others, but the average salary has been made as near as possible the same as before. At the same time, the present salaries of all holders of permnnent positions are provided against reduction. This is an important feature. No Increase in Total Cost, The Minister, unfortunately, has had to carry out the changes without increase. in the total cost of salaries, and, in order to do so, a small reduction of £3 in made in tho salaries of pupil teachers and probationers appointed after the first of this month, and £8 in the allowances to those training college students, but this later reduction .will not operate till February 1, 1925, except in the case of students of divisions B, C, and D. admitted after February 1 next. Even after these reductions, the commencing salaries of. pupil teachers will be considerably highhr. than those of cadets in the Public Service, and the allowances for training college students will be tho highest in the British Empire. It is considered the better policy to pay the sum saved by the reductions later on by way of increase to the salaries of adult teachers. Pupil Teachers Salaries. Under the. new scheme, pupil teachers will begin at £BO a year, training college students, boys at £B5. and girls at £BO a year, plus a boarding allowance of £3O a year. Further, the Department pays university fees for the students. Tho new scheme has had necessarily to be introduced on a provisional basis,' and tho Minister has undertaken to reconsider, the position after it has been in operation for a few months, ana to make any improvements that experience proves necessary. Under the new scheme (unlike the old scale) an assistant, can remain five years in the lowest grade and receive an increment in his or her salary each year, the maximum possible in the case of a woman being £260 in a country school, and £235 in 'or near one of "the centres: £s64 for a single man and £304 for a married man. A feature of the scheme is the special allowance, up to £25, in order to induce young teachers to accept positions in the country. Advantage has also been taken of the opportunity of aiding permanently an assistant,' in place of a' ‘pupil teacher, to the staff of ail the larger schools of Grades VD, VB, and VII, and thus reduce to u certain extent the large classes of these schools-, andalso to increase tho number of Grade VI schools by transferring the present Grade VD to Grade VI, thus increasing the range of promotion for experienced teachers. Primary and Mixed Schools. District high schools have hitherto been graded on the combined average attendances of the primary and secondary departments, and.' consequently, the staffs of a few primary departments receive higher grade salaries than tho staffs of ordinary schools of the same size doing the same work, while the staffs of other district high schools derive no benefit therefrom. It has, therefore, been decided in future to provide the same staff and salaries for primary departments as for ordinary mixed schools. At the same time, tne salaries of the secondary assistants of these schools are being increased, and tho allowances to the headmasters revised. Tho latter will receive allowances according to tho average attendance as follows:—(12-20), £3O, (21-30) £45, (31-60) £6O, (61-90) £7O, (over 91) £BO. These increases will, it is hoped, enable the boards to secure the services of more competent assistants and headiriasters for the important work of post-primary instruction in" district high school®. The salaries of assistants in Native schools and of normal schools have been revised and brought into line with tho salaries of assistants in public schools. The Minister has submitted the draft of the new scheme to the education boards, the New Zealand Educational Institute, and to the senior inspectors, who’have all given the matter careful consideration. The institute represen-

tatives, at their last conference with the Department, concurred in the scheme going forward as an admitted improvement of the present position. Avoiding injustice. The- reform thus brought about has been the subject of much careful thought by the Minister and the Department. The matter has not been free from difficulty, in as much as the Minister could not make a new salary scheme which entailed any extra, cost in the aggregate to the Consolidated Fund, and, on the other hand, every endeavour has been made not to do injustice to the assistants in the enjoyment of their present salaries. Mr. Parr, in directing the issue of the new regulations, has undertaken both with the boards and with the New Zealand Educational Institute that, should any anomalies be apparent in the working of the new scale, he is prepared to review the scheme in six months time. . * EFFECT of new classification EXPLAINED BY MR. PARR The attention of the Minister of Education (Hon. C. J. Parr) has been drawn to opinions expressed by “an education authority” published in the Dominion yesterday regarding the new regulations for teachers’ salaries. The Minister said: —“The statements of the so-called authority are so wide of the mark, contain so many misinterpretations of the regulations, and show such a misunderstanding of the- true position, that they would be ignored but for the fact that the public and the teachers might be un’dul.v alarmed. . ’ “To begin with, the new salaries are compared by the critic with the salaries before the ‘cuts’ were imposed two years ago, a comparison which is manifestly so unfair as to render all his criticism based upon it quite worthless. For example, the reduction of the salaries of probationers is stated 'to be £l5, whereas the true reduction imposed by the regulations under review _is only £3. ‘Again, it is stated that ‘the regulations disclose reductions all round in the case of assistants,’ whereas, ns a matter of fact, the maximum salaries of single men assistants have been increased as follows: —Grade 1, £49; 2, £29; 3, £1; 4. £23: 6, £2l; while the maximum of grade 5 has been reduced by onlv £7 and that of grade 7by £9. (The difference for married men is only £2). “The maxima for women have, with some exceptions, been increased as follows:—Grade 1. £2O; 2A. £7; 3, £27; 6, £7; while the maximum of grade 2 is unaltered, and that of grade 4 reduced by only £3 and of grade 5 bv £3. Could any statement of the nosition be more unfair or misleading? “The authority’s reference to the so-called anomalies in the salaries for men and women for different positions shows such a misunderstanding of the provisions and the regulations- that the whole criticism calls for little in reply. He quite overlooks tho fact thatt schedule I. of he. regulations applies not only to ordinary mixed schools, but also to separate boys’ and separate girls’ schools, and the further fact that in mixed schools certain positions are specially reserved for women and others are invariably filled by men.* “In conclusion, it must be pointed out that the new provisions have had to he brought in without an increase in the total cost, and that the salaries of all present holders of permanent positions have been maintained, no one being reduced. It will thus be seen that the difficulties in the way were great, and yet the possible maximum salaries for most of the grades have been increased, as shown above, while very small reductions have been imposed in the other grades.” “The scheme,” added the .Minister, “has been the subject of very careful thought by myself and the Department, and has' been submitted to all the education boards, school inspectors, and the Now Zealand Educational Institute, who are agreed that it should go forward and be given a fair trial. So one who knows anything about the subject will deny that the new scheme is a decided improvement on the old.”