WOMEN TEACHERS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 18631, 12 February 1924, Page 11

WOMEN TEACHERS.

Sir,—l am one of the "deserters" to whom "Ecce Homo" refers, but not until I had served in the profession for nine years. Still, I know of many women teachers who have served much longer than I did before deserting, and many who have never deserted, having grown old in the service, and some who have retired on superannuation. Then, again, I know some who, after ''deserting" truly, found matrimony an allurement, and others who have incapacitated Husbands, or who are widows, all of whom are glad again to take up the work to provide a livelihood for themselves, and often for their children as well—not), perhaps, with man's lofty ideal, who 'made teaching their lifelong duty to the community," but, nevertheless, with honeit purpose do their" work at; faithfully and well as the men. I cannot see how any intelligent man or woman could for one moment imagine that New Zealand's future prosperity depended on the women any more than her prosperity could depend solely on the men, but if men teachers as "Ecce Homo" says, are proving themselves better than women teachers, let them by all means be paid higher salaries. But where women uo come up to the standard of men in their work then in common justice let. them receive the same pay, whether they teach for five years or 40. To imagine a man teacher trying /to teach 100 or more infants is too funny for comment, though the salary an infant mistress sometimes receives is undoubtedly a "plum" some of the men would like to grasp, especially with an "extra" that must be added because they are men. Ex-Woman Teacher.