TEACHERS' SALARIES

Evening Post, Volume CIII, Issue 48, 27 February 1922, Page 8

TEACHERS' SALARIES

A' FURTHER REPLY TO THE

MINISTER

Tho secretary ol the New Zealand: Education Institute hns supplied the following further comment on the comparisons made by the Minister of Education between the New Zealand scales of teachers' salaries and the Burnham scales in force.in England. Ho wishes it to bo understood that tho present controversy its not of the institute's seeking, sine*> the- scale, of teachers' salaries wns not a Bubjcct of discussion, but long experience hus taught that it is always; inadvisable to let wrong impressions go uncorrectod. Tho secretary adds :—

"The Minister, in his second statement, gives. some quite attractive figures about tho male asaistanta in New Zealand. The important fact is that in the New Zealand scale men and women aro treated equally, except that rather more thnm half the positions are reserved'for women. Tho actual figures of the scale are as. follow, it being understood that a married assistant receives £40 a year in addition. /

Aaaiatantg (Primary) in Now Zealand. Grade. Max. Inc. Possible. Positions, p.c. £ £ 1 170 60 230 397 14.7 2 190 60 250 476 17.7 2a 210 60 270 . 707 26.3 3 230 60 290 390 14.5 4 270 60 330 281 10.4 5 300 60 360 252 9.3 6 320 60 380 104 3.8 7 350 60 410 81 3.0

It is to be noted (a) that the £60 grading increment is paid only to those of highest efficiency in the several groups, the average being perhaps -from £30 to £40; (b) that every small step up the scale has to be competed for; (c) that the number of positions falls very rapidly above grade 2a, thus blocking promotion. MEN ASSISTANTS UNDER BURNHAM SCALES (England and Wales). (Note.—The women's maximum is four- ■ ; fifths of men's.) Scale 1. Scale 2. Scale 3. Scale 4. | Mm. £172| £172^ £182| £200 Max. £325 £34.0 £380 £425 vScale.l. operates in 28 areas, Scale 11. in 73, Scale lIL in 187, and Scale IV. in 28 (the London County Council and j adjacent , areas). It will thus be seen that no certificated assistant in England meets any bar until attaining the maximum of the scale of his area. In New Zealand, where the position and not the teachers are paid, 58 per cent, of these are limited to £270 a year, even if the ■whole £60 for efficiency is included. The figures quoted from the New Zealand scale show that the statement relating to the decreasing number of the higher positions is correct, though the Minister, by directing attention to the men's side, to a large extent obscured the fact. In doing so, however, he brought into view another fact of even greater significance, namely, that there are only 422 certificated male assistants in the schools of New Zealand. The total number of assistants (E. 2 Report, 1921) is given as 2860. As that aspect is not the subject of the present discussion, nothing more will be said about it here, but it is well worth the consideration of the public. The point at present is whether the New Zealand scale is as good, or nearly as good, as the Burnham scales; and a little scrutiny of the figures given above will show the answer. In England even in the poorest areas, every assistant is "assured" of £325 (women £260); in New Zealand no assistant, is "assured" of anything boyond, say, £200; after that progress has to wait upon the 'wastage" in the higher, larilTs, and depends _pn the effiol-, ency of "the individual. ■'■..,.