WOMEN TEACHERS

New Zealand Times, Volume L, Issue 11583, 28 July 1923, Page 5

WOMEN TEACHERS

THEIR ADVERSE POSITION

COMPARISON WITH THE PRIMARY SCHOOLS. DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SEXES. Comparison of the position of teachers in primary and secondary schools was made by Mrs J. Kano at the meeting of the Wellington College Board of Governors yesterday. In the course of moving .a notice of motion “That this board draw the attention of the Education Department to tininadequate salaries paid to women teachers in secondary schools,” Mrs Kan© pointed out the disadvantages under which secondary school teachera worked 1 . “As a board now we have no power in the payment uf salaries.” said Mrs Kane. “It has been take.n out of our hands, but J feel that w© should bring this matter beneath the notice of the department.” She bad been struck by the disparity between the salaries in the Boys’ College and the Girls’ School, and while she did not think that the teachers in the Boys’ College were getting too much, it had not seemed to her a fair thing that such a state of things should exist. If the department were sympathetic, however, she was sure that something would be done. SOME COMPARISONS. She had found that there were two schools of the same size, the Boys’ College roll numbering 795, and the girls* 782. These were schools which were doing the same work, having the same responsibilities, being inspected in the same manner, in every way upon an equal footing. In the hoys’ school the headmaster received £IOOO a year, and they were building him a house at the cost of some thousands. Comparing this with the girls’ school, they found that the headmistress received £615 per year, and absolutely nothing else. She was not‘advocating equal pay for equal work, and she was not regarding the matter from a personal aspect* but why in any sensible grading scheme should there be 14 assistants at the hoys’ college who received more than the first assistant at the girls’ college? If their classification meant anything why should they ..not adhere to it. There were six teachers in . the first grade who had' been forced to accept positions beneath their classification, and there were 38 “A” grade* teachers in New Zealand, and only 20 “A” grade positions. All that the department would say was that they should move out into the country. ‘‘INFINITELY WORSE OFF.” If the women who were teaching in secondary schools were compared with those in primary schools, it would l be found that the former were infinitely wotsg off, and it was a wonder to her that women went through the university course to prepare themselves for it. The primary school teacher was paid for tho time during which she was learning her work, and she had her superannuation dating from the time that she was at the training college. The secondary school teacher was not paid according to her classification, as the primary school teacher was. Anri they found that girls who went into the high schools did much better than secondary school teachers, and that, as a result, there was a shortage of suitable applicants for positions. They could do nothing; if they could, she was sure that there was hot a member of the hoard who would not remedy it, that being so, they could merely call the department’s attention to it. Mr R. Darroch agreed very fully with what Mrs Kano had said. “I have never yet been able to reconcile my mind to the belief in equal pay for equal work,” said Mr W. F. Ward (chairman), declaring ‘his opposition to the motion. “Whether their pay is adequate or not is another matter. But I do not think that there are very many walks in life in which a girl can obtain a much better salary than in the secondary schools.” The motion was carried.