COUNTRY TEACHERS

Greymouth Evening Star, 19 October 1946, Page 3

COUNTRY TEACHERS

HOUSING DISCUSSED BY BOARD MR. TURLEY’S COMMENTS The provision of houses for married teachers at country schools was the subject of discussion by the Canterbury Education Board at Christchurch yesterday, when some members held that the Education Department often “side-tracked the issue.” The discussion developed with a letter from the department stating that it felt it would not be justified in pressing for priority in the erection of a residence at Clandeboye. where a single woman was in charge. The board decided to inform the department that there was no possibility of a married teacher going to Clandeboye unless a house was available. Permission was sought to proceed with the erection of a house. A. protest should go to the department about the housing position, said Mr F. L. Turley, who said that on many occasions applications for houses for married teachers were rejected. “We have been side-tracked time and again, and it is time we made a vigorous protest against the department’s attitude,” Mr Turley said. “There are two sides to every question,” said the chairman (Mr C. S. Thompson), who pointed out that in a number of instances the department had provided houses in country districts on the understanding that a married teacher would be placed in charge of the school. In some cases the position had been filled by single teachers, with .the result that the houses remained empty for years.