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E.—6

Salaries of Secondary-school Teachers. The Dominion scale of salaries of secondary-school teachers, which came into force in 1920 and was subsequently amended by the provisions of the Public Expenditure Adjustment Act, 1921-22, briefly is as follows : Principals —Men, £570 to £860 ; women, £415 to £645. Assistants—Men, £183 to £520 ; women, £158 to £390. In addition a married Principal receives house allowance of £60 if a residence is not provided, a head of a department may receive £30, and a married assistant receives £40 per annum. The salaries of Principals are graded according to the size of the school, and the salaries of assistants according to the classification of the position held. The total rate of salaries, including those of part-time teachers, as payable in December, 1922, was £155,581, or £14 2s. per head of the highest roll number. In the individual schools the cost per head of salaries ranges as follows: Boys' schools, £14 6s. to £18 2s. ; mixed schools, £12 6s. to £16 10s. ; girls' schools, £11 Bs. to £14 16s. The following figures indicate the average rates of salary prevailing at threeyearly intervals since the year 1916 :— Average Salaries of Full-time Teachers in Secondary Schools, , 1916. j ,— 1919. , , !922. , Males. Females. Total. Males. Females. Total. Males. Females. Total. £ £ £ £££ £££ Principals' .. .. 593 431 539 647 509 596 703 529 636 Assistants .. .. 266 186 228 332 252 290 359 267 315 The value of residences, and board and residence, and of house allowance when payable, is excluded from the above figures. Of 214 male assistants the salaries of nineteen were over £500, of fifty-six between £400 and £501, of sixty-nine between £300 and £401, and of seventy below £301. Of 194 female assistants the salaries of nineteen were over £350, of thirty-eight between £300 and £351, of fifty-five between £250 and £301, and of eighty-two under £251. In considering these figures it should be borne in mind that nearly one-third of the teachers are classified in the lowest grade, and that many have had no training in teaching and no teaching experience whatever. In the secondary departments of district high schools salaries are paid in accordance with a general scale. The average salaries paid to secondary assistants in 1922 were as follows : Male assistants, £302 ; female assistants, £289 ; all assistants, £294. The total annual rate of salaries paid to teachers of district high schools, including the special payments to head teachers, was £35,566, which is equivalent to £13 10s. per head of the average weekly roll number. Lower Departments of Secondary Schools. (Table Kll.) Lower departments for pupils who have not passed S6 may be held in connection with secondary schools, provided that no part of the cost of instruction or of the maintenance of the department is met out of income from the endowments of the school or from Government grants. Twelve secondary schools (including Christ's College, Christchurch) have lower departments attached to them, two such departments having been closed in 1922. The total number of pupils in 1922 was 590, as compared with 774 in 1921. The roll number included 344 boys and 246 girls, and the total number of teachers was twenty-three (eight males and fifteen females). A large number of the pupils board at the school hostels, indicating that these departments are used by the children of country residents able to afford to send their children away from home to attend school. The tuition fees charged average £11 per annum and the boarding fees £50. "Finance. (Tables K7--K9.) The income of secondary schools is derived from the following sources : — (i.) Bents from special reserves allocated to them by statute :' (ii.) Statutory grant given in lieu of special reserves (in one case) : (iii.) Interest upon moneys derived from the sale of reserves and invested in accordance with the Education Reserves Act:

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