THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY, JULY 25, 1902 TEACHERS' SUPERANNUATION SCHEME.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 12414, 25 July 1902, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY, JULY 25, 1902 TEACHERS' SUPERANNUATION SCHEME.

Last week we published an article on a ; proposal which has been made that j teachers should allow it to be understood that they are quite willing to forgo, for the purposes of a superannuation scheme, increments that would come to them by ' the bringing in of; what is known as No. 2 Scale. When that article was written we had not the remotest idea that the question was on the point' of coming up for discussion at a meeting of teachers in Duneilin. At the ' meeting of teachers held in the Normal School 'last Saturday morning to discuss a series of resolutions on the general question of superannuation there was practical unanimity until Mr Jcft'ery moved his resolution discountenancing the surrender of the increments under No. 2 Scale. This resolution was opposed by Mr W. Davidson, who, in an editorial in the July issue of the Journal of Education—of which publication he is the editor,—advocated the .surrender, though the same article says: " It should be remembered too (1) that the Commission strongly recommended the adoption of Scale No. 2; (2) that many members of Parliament voted for the Salaries Bill on the understanding (hat the second scale should come into force at as early a date as possible; (3) that the Premier made a distinct promise that, should the revenue of the colony permit, the scale recommended by the Commission should be brought into force; (4) that a clause in the Bill provides for the bringing into operation of the improved scale by an Order-in-Coun-cil." % this it does not appear that Scale No, 2 is difficult of attainment. What modifying circumstances have arisen since Y Presumably the abrogation of the second scale is advocated because of the amounts which will probably bo added to salaries to meet some or all of the defects we have pointed out and others wn have not recognised— amounts, however, which will increase the expenditure under the Salaries Act as much as No. 2. Scale, will, • without the additions (except in one

I or two grades) raising the salaries as provided for in that scale. For instance, "either scale provides for relieving teachers or sewing mistresses. Mr Davidson appears to think that as the outlay tinder the Salaries Act with additions now under consideration will | equal the amount that would he paid on Scale Xo. 2 without giving the increj nieiits of that scale, it will be useless to 1 ask for No. 2 Scale increments and a 'superannuation subsidy also; and, thinking this, rather than endanger the prospects of superannuation, ho has, as a matter of expediency, been advocating the dropping of Scale No. 2. We think this fairly states Mr Davidson's position. In our article we joined issue with this proposal, and are now fortified in our opinion by a nearly three-fourths majority of the teachers present at Saturday's meeting, most of whom would gain rather than lose by Mr Davidson's proposal. It appears to us that the proposal is a mischievous one, and for many reasons: (I) The editorial coining from the official organ of the New Zealand Educational Institute more or less suggests to M.H.lt.'s aud others that teachers are probably willing to forgo No. 2 Scale increments; and as the voice of the teachers had not been taken on the point, we think that Mr Jeffery's resolution was well , timed. (2) It is rather a gratuitous I'assumption that Parliament will not grant No. 2 Scale and a subsidy, if it is willing to give railway employees fair wages and a subsidy also. Parliament would, iu that, case, take the responsibility of refusing a subsidy on salaries acknowledged to be in many cases , inadequate, and. in no case beyond, if equal to, what pqual ability would command in other professions. (3) I The teachers who would benefit by ! bringing in No. 2 Scale have just cause for complaint. Why should they be mulcted because of deficiencies in a : scheme imperfectly worked out, and that after the Commissioners had taken voluminous, evidence throughout the colony? (4) Even if the amount necessary to bring in No. 2 Scale is to be . surrendered, to say that some 500 sole ! teachers earning up to £100 a year are not to surrender anything; that an assistant at £80 is to surrender as much as the highest paid in the service; that about 500 should draw a subsidy out of I a fund they have not put a penny into— for by abrogating No. 2 Scale they lose nothing;—that an assistant at £80 should have in the fund surrendered less than 10s in the pound on what he has put in, while, a head master at, say, £350, | is to have in the fund £3 for every, £1 I put in and perhaps more; that the brunt of the surrender should fall on assistants and mistresses between £80 and, say, £150 and on sole teachers drawing between £100 and £100—we say that any proposal containing such conditions and unjust surrenders and allocations is unworthy of consideration. It seems to us a pity that it .was ever made public. We feel sure that if it had been brought before the Superannuation Committee before it was put into print, wiser counsels would have prevailed, and the disloyalty to the committee and the unfortunate division of last Saturday would have been avoided. We see no reasen, however, why there should not "be unanimity.- Wo think that more liberal allowances can be made to country schools, that sewing mistresses . can be provided for, that No. 2. Scale | can be brought in, that second assist--1 ants can be better paid, and that a superannuation subsidy can he granted without any appreciable addition to the expenditure under the Salaries Act. We again urge centralising schools, half-time schools, the closing of unnecessary schools, and the utmost vigilance in the establishment of new schools. These economies will increase efficiency and create a saving which, we ; think, will quite cover the additional expenditure asked for. But supposing . it does not, then bring in. No. 2 Scale; take it as a basis, deduct, say, 2i per cent, on salaries up to, say, £150, aud 5 per cent, on salaries above that, or | even 2£ per cent, all round. Any pro ' rata rate would be infinitely preferable to. the proposal we have found it necessary to so adversely criticise. Perhaps No. 2 Scale could be brought in, with the exception that no increments be added to salaries of over £200. The saving thus effected could be subsidised by the Government to bring the amount up to, ; say, 3'- per cent, on the Salaries Act. ! Even with a subsidy added to the No. 2 Scale, which is drawn up on a £4 2s Gd oasis, the cost of primary educationwould bo very moderate when compared with the cost per capita in our High Schools. The, sum spent in primary education at, say, £4 4s Gd per capita, a | sum which would include a-sufficient sub- ; sidy for superannuation, and which 1 represents all the education the great majority of our children get, is an exceedingly modest one when we remember that our Dunedin High Schools cost over , four times as much per capita. In con--1 elusion, while criticising Mi* Davidson's proposal, we regret his resignation. Mr Joffory's resolution seems to us to be . quite justified. It has made it clear that I teachers are not to be committed to a surrender they have had no opportunity of expressing an official opinion upon. Such an expression must come from the 1 ;New Zealand Educational Institute,.or through the executive, as a body re- [, sponsible to the Institute. Mr Davidson | therefore should, we think, continue to ' act on the Superannuation Committee, aud to help in the drawing up of a scheme on n subsidy basis. How the subsidy is to be obtained can be left an [ ; open question in the meantime; but no attempt should be made to commit the. teachers to any individual opinion until teachers as a whole have made them- ! selves acquainted with it. Any such attempt will only cause disunion. Mr Jelfery thinks that the proposal is a ' mischievous one. Let r,s see what can be said in favour of our article, backed ' up as it is by nearly a three-fourths ' i majority of teachers interested.