TEACHING PROFESSION SALARIES.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16254, 3 July 1918, Page 5

TEACHING PROFESSION SALARIES.

TO THE EDITOR OF "THE rSESS."

j Sir,—Much attention lias been paid Lrecently to»the question or sciiool accominodation, and to tiio _comlort of thoso wlio, l)y Act of ■fainu.iiieut, are compelled to attend these schools, Ine mutter is of tne meatus t importance, and we cannot consider our education ( system to be in a satisiactoi'y conuiuoii, _ outwardly, until many or the antiquated structures where education is • dispensed, have been demoiisiied and j replaced. We use the term outwardly intentionally for, given the finest build- , ings imaginable, and the most peirect appliances for heating and ventilation, education will not be real until intei nal reform takes place. Are tne teachers the best product of the State? Is their profession considered one of the most important in the community r Dfies the State recognise the importance of the profession, and endeavour to attract to it the best intellects that its primary schools produce P Tlie Minister of Education, addressing the Council of Education m Welling this week, is reported to have said that the shortage of tcachors was due to lack of supply, not to unwillingness of the Department to engage the number necessary for efficiency. ftow, what more damaging evidence of lack of provision for_ the education of our young could be imagined? ■ A glance at the 1917- Year Book shows that since 1893 the number of boys appointed to our schools, has decreased from 238 to 201 in 1936, while the number of scholars attending the primary schools has, for tne same period, increased by about 61.000. • The teaching service lias, up to the present time, oeen treated diiierentiy from the otner branches of the public service, tne salaries paid to beginners in say, the Post iJilice or the iiuiiway, being considerably greater than thoso . paid to "pupil teacners and probationers. Throughout New Zealand teachers have been loud in their condemnation of this inequality, and recently Cabinet agreed to ah increase which, though not placing the young teacher on an equal tooting with Public Service cadets, yet considerably improved his condition. At tlie same time, however, an increase in the rates paid to Public Service cadets was made with the result that the relative positions are as bad as before. The unpopularity of the teaching profession from a financial point of view, cannot be questioned, g* Young people are not offering, and will not offer themselves in sufficient numbers, while the commencing rates of salarios remain as they are. The following salaries, which include board allowance, show the position at the present IIIHA *

Public Proba- : Service tioner Pupil Cadet. Teacher. Teacner. £ £ £ Ist year ... 88 75 65 2nd year 98 75 75 3rd year ... 108 75 &5 4th year ...-110 75 85 sth year ... — — £o 6th year ••• — — 75 Total for four years' , service 404 300 310 At the end of tlie training period tlie Public oervice cadot Uoiub a position, but tiie young teacuer must look ior hi ß ' . r xt 'i'he qualification necessary for the j Railway or the foot Oiuce is tlie Standard Vl. proficiency certificate, for other brancues of the Public Service the Public Service entrance examinaTlie probationor must matriculate or obtain a lower leaving certificate. The approximate ages at which these qualifications are gained are: — Proficiency certificate 13 years. Public beivice entrance 16 years. Lower leaving certificate ••• ••• 16 years. Matriculation ••• 1' years. The boy wno enters the Kauway or the Postal service tuus gains two or tliree years or earning porter on e tiie one who enters tue tetidiuig service. jSow winciL ot tiiese services will a thougnuul parent cnoose lor his boy or 81 The above facts and figures should make it plain to those responsible that drastic changes must take pla~e lr suitable young people are to be attracted to the proiession. The chairman of the Military Appeal Board in Wellington said on luesday last that Germany, in spite of the great burden of debt which she is accumulating, is increasing her education expenditure. And we must do the same if we intend to attract to the service the brightest and best of our young In the words of Professor Alfred Marshall, the greatest of economists"Public . money must flow freely. The wisdom of expending public and private funds on education is not to be measured by its direct fruits alone. It will be profitable as a mere investment to give the masses of the people much greater opportunities than they can generally avail themselves of. The economic value of one great industrial "-enius is sufficient to cover tha, expenses of the education of a whole town." We are, etc., PUBLICITY COMMITTEE, Canterbury N.Z. Educational Institute. Hwl the the bell, the dinner bell! y ery pleasant little tinkle if you re well; But when in your ear is rineing, biting, whizzing, bunting, stinging, Influenza microbca stnrafec —then, on well! Yoq cannot • that bell endure—you znnst Woods' Great Peppermint 0b be well! **