TEACHERS' SALARIES.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13487, 14 May 1907, Page 6

TEACHERS' SALARIES.

DEPUTATION TO THE MINISTER [BY TELEGRAPH.— -PRESS ASSOCIATION.] V w . " Invercargill, Monday.: A; deputation from the Southland branch of the Teachers' Institute ; waited on the Hon. G. Fowlds, Minister for Education, to draw .attention to defects in the colonial scale of ; ?\ salaries. . The principal objection was the scale was based on the average attendance. . x 'n' i _--v l The Minister admitted that the system had not yet reached perfection. He pointed ; : out that the New Zealand system of local control * made it less easy to have a | general system of promotion. Parliament i was not likely to' accede to a proposal to' ! annually increase teachers' salaries while ! the school attendance was dropping. ':. At .' the same time, where from causes beyond the • teachers' control the attendance fell off, the teacher should have an opportunity of transferring before any material diminu- , tion was made in his salary. The question iof how best t to arrange matters required | careful consideration. Mr. Fowlds expressed his belief in the value of local interest in education, and was prepared to listen to anyone who might ; evolve y a scheme, while continuing the present system of boards and ■ committees. - He invited the deputation to work out a scheme of salaries, and submit it. ...'-; The colonial scale had enormously improved the status and conditions of the majority of teachers in New Zealand in several ways. He did not think the decreases in the proportion of males to females were due to salaries, but to the desire of women to earn their living, and to j the fact that their wages had been more! largely increased. At the same time, he did not deny sympathy with the deputation, and would be delighted if he could persuade Parliament to grant more money for educational purposes. : A member of the deputation said that the New Zealand Institute ; was engaged in drawing up a scheme of salaries for submission to the Minister. MR. FOWLDS AT DUNEDIN. NO INTERFERENCE WITH LOCAL CONTROL. [by telegraph.— association.] ■ t . ... Dunedin, Monday. , ► .i Several members of the School Commit-', tees' Association waited on the Hon. G. Fowlds this morning. The deputation stated that Mr. Fowlds was recognised as i a man of. wide experience, and the, Department of.Education was to be congratulated, on having him at the head. Mr. Fowlds, in reply,, said that the best ! thing a Minister could do was to come into'! personal contact with; those who were 'co- ! workers with;: him in the work of his, De- i partment. . As to teachers' salaries, he | was -trying to devise, some means ;■ of recognising efficiency and length': of service. without interfering with : local .control. : ; He -would be the very ,-j last to take any step that would -reduce local ! interest in schools. 7 'The School Journal was ] intended to meet the difficulty, and was nob I intended to take the form of a magazine or j newspaper. , He believed it would serve -a useful purpose in the educational system of the. colony.: . .;. \, .-• ■<; A deputation:. representing the ; teachers complained that teachers "now: had to pay postage .on the returns of examination schedules and other official communications forwarded to their education boards. , The Minister said that the boards : were alto-, gether wrong in : asking teachers to pay this postage. ' The boards of education' should pay the postage on teachers' communications and returns. The question whether the boards should get a grant for this was one tlicy should fight with the Government.