MARRIED WOMEN

Greymouth Evening Star, 10 November 1934, Page 5

MARRIED WOMEN

EMPLOYMENT TO TEACHERS. [per press association.] AUCKLAND, November 9. The difficulties experienced by the - Auckland Education Board in dealing ■ with married women teachers were commented upon at a meeting of the board. The discussion arose when a letter was read protesting against the retention of a married woman in a country school. The woman’s husband, it was alleged, was in a Government job, Sir H. Hoe said that although he could quote no definite cases, he thought there were probably some married women in the profession who should not be there. Enquiries into such cases, he thought, might be made more thorough. Another member said he knew of one case where a woman teacher still retained in service had been able to afford a trip to Melbourne with her husband. Mr W. J. Campbell mentioned that the board frequently had extreme difficulty in proving that a married woman had no just claim to be retained as a teacher. Mr W. I. Bowyer expressed the opinion that at a time when so many teachers were out of employment, it was not fair for married women to be retained if their circumstances did not warrant it. The position of young teachers who had been put to considerable expense in their training had to be considered. The Chairman (Mr T. U. Wells), said that frequently statutory declarations furnished by married teachers put a different complexion on their cases. Those declarations often showed that the persons concerned were staggering under heavy liabilities. He added that the executive would be only too glad to hear of cases where it appeared that the services of a married woman should not be retained.