TEACHERS' WAGES

Evening Post, Volume CXXXVII, Issue 121, 24 May 1944, Page 4

TEACHERS' WAGES

SECONDARY SCHOOLS

TRIBUNAL PROPOSED "The position is far from satisfactory and has come to the state where drastic action must he taken or the profession will lose a lot of valuable secondary school assistants," said Mr. H. M. Patrick when he reported to the Wellington Colleges Board of Governors yesterday on a meeting with j secondary school teachers regarding I their salaries. The board adopted Mr. Patrick's recommendation that the Government should be asked to set up a tribunal of three teacher representatives, three from the Government, and an independent chairman to come to an agreement on salary increases for immediate adoption retrospective to the beginning of this year. "Teachers have not had the same consideration in regard to improvement of salary as men in the general walks of life or the officers of Government Departments," said Mr. Patrick. "The scale of salary they are working on is that adopted in 1921 and, apart from the cost-of-living bonuses, they are still on it. As the result of representations they were promised ,a revision of salaries on what is known as the 1939 scale, but it seems that the way in which this partial agreement was arrived at was n&t one which accords with the democratic principles obtaining today, and the committee which decided upon it was not constituted in the manner in which we are now accustomed." He suggested that a tribunal of three members of the profession and three Government nominees with an independent chairman mutually agreed upon should discuss the matter somewhat in the manner of the Railways Department tribunal and reach an agreement on salary. The overall increase in pay under the 1939 agreement was stated to be 8& per cent., Mr. Patrick continued, and he considered that such an increase on a scale first adopted in 1921 was not in keeping with the rise in the cost of living and the general upward trend of prices since that time. TEACHERS' PROPOSAL. "It is true that the 1939 scale is better," he said, "but it is an open question,'a very open question, whether it goes far enough to make an adequate remuneration to the teachers for the services they give to the country. The teachers' organisation have a proposal that is better—it may be that they have been a little overgenerous to theriiselves, but that can be considered later. I do not think that this board is in a position to go into the matter fully by itself owing to the lack of data, hence the proposal: for the tribunal, but-I do feel that the board should be sympathetic towards a general increase in salaries. "It must be remembered that in the Government service -an officer who starts with a degree comparable to a teaching 8.A., such as Bachelor of Science or Engineering, commences at a good salary and passes quickly without any barriers whatever to a salary of £470, after which his further promotion depends on the positions available. Teachers have not the .same opportunity to make that progress in anything like the time. In addition, they enter their profession later and consequently retire later. The stabilisation limits do apply, but the Government has indicated that it may ; consider raising them." Mr. Patrick's recommendations, in addition to the setting up of the tribunal, were for a salary revision every five years as in the case of tlie Public Service, opportunities for speedier promotion, payment to suitably qualified teachers of the salary "of the grade above that they held after a certain period of service until such time as a higher-graded vacancy occurs, and an increase in the salary of first assistants to bring it closer to that of principals.

The chairman, Mr. W. V. Dyer, thanked Mr. Patrick for his report, and it was decided to send copies of his recommendations to the Education Department, the Director of Education, and to other secondary school boards.