THE PAY OF TEACHERS

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1839, 27 August 1913, Page 5

THE PAY OF TEACHERS

EDUCATION BOARD. THE ATTITUDE OF MEMBERS. Pay of teachers, wliich is the bnrning question in the profession at present, . came up for remark at tho meeting of tho Wellington Education Board yesterday. > Mr. A. W. Hogg moved:—"That the attention of tho Minister for Edu- . cation should he called to the fact that many of our country schools are suffering owing to the difficulty experienced in obtaining efficient or experienced teachers, and that ho should be urged to tako the necessary stops to have the present scale of staffs and salaries reviewed by Parliament." Mr.. Hogg stated that he had been waited upon recently by teachers in' 1 his district. It appears that threo hundred and twenty-nino teachers in the Wellington district got less than £200 per year, whilo 101 teachers got over that figure. Only nineteen of the latter received over £300, and some of these had spent their lives in the profession. Such were tho inducements to school teachers. It was not so much his object to advocate better salaries as to make a plea for the schools. The better tho teachers available, the better for tho education of the children. The argument that there was not time to improve the conditions of teachers during this' session of Parliament was stale, fiat and unprofitable. There should be an improvement in the conditions of teachers who were getting less than £200 per year. Married men should get a salary of not less than about £200. Tako tho state of things with the country schools, where teachers started at £90 a year. To send these young men and women from tho Training College to the back-blocks and expect them to live, dress, prepare for examinations, buy books, etc., on £90, or even £100, was refined cruelty. A result of this state of things was that the country schools suffered, and the existing scale was not conducive to the closer settlement in\ the back country. These teachers should not get less than £120 per year. Sir Walter Buchanan expressed the opinion that no member of tho board would have any difficulty in supporting the resolution. It would be sufficient, perhaps, to say that replies from past Ministers and the present Minister had not been quite satisfactory. There was no doubt that the salaries of some teachers must be increased. Doubts had been raised as to the Minister's bonafides respecting !his reference in tho Financial Statement to this subject, but he (the speaker) did not hold tho view-that there was any reason for such doubts. The supply of teachers was not equal to the demand, particularly in tho case of men teachers, and, no matter what Minister was in office, tho country would demand improvements which would ultimately command a sufficient supply. He believed' that the teachers realised that the Minister was adopting a reasonable attitude, and that their needs would bo attended to, partly this session and partly next session. The Minister had already stated that teachers who had -suffered through falling attendances would be recompensed, and he (the speaker) believed that tihe effect given to this intention would bo retrospective. Mr. W. H. Field also supported the motion. He remarked that.the present method at-times Tesulted in grave injustice —thero were cases of positive iniquity. Ho still hoped that the Minister would see his way to deal .with tho matter this session. Mr. Moss said that the Minister had to face tOie difficulty of finding tie monoy; the improvements would have to bo financed out of the ratepayers' pockets. ■■ The motion was carried. An olfer from the Trust Lands Trust, Masterton, of £50 towards the increasing of the salaries of secondary teachers ill Masterton was accented' with thanks. The recommendations of the Secondary Schools Conference were referred to the board's executive and the city membors of tihe board, with a requost that a report should be presented to the board at its next meeting. TEACHERS MEET. REPORT FROM N.Z.. EXECUTIVE. Teachers' salaries were considered at a special meeting of the Wellington branch of the New Zealand Educational Institute last night. ■ Mr. J. Taplin presided over an attendance of about 70. Tho meeting was called in accordance with a requisition of 18 members of the branch for tho purpose of "devising ways and means of obtaining ■redress." The meeting went into committeo to hear a report from the executive respecting an interview between tho executive and tho Minister.

When the gathering resumed in open meeting, Mr. W. J. Grundy moved:— "That this district institute is glad'to hear from the executive of the N.Z.E.I, that it is the intention of the Government to amend tho Education Act next session in tho_ direction of increasing teachers' salaries, and would* suggest that any increases that shall bo made shall date from January 1,1914." Mr. Grundy said that if the Government agreed to this it would show that they wero desirous of doing- something for the teachers. Tho matter of salaries had not been dealt with earlier because tho Minister had been absent from Now Zealand, but that was not tho fault of the teachers. Strangely, the increases given this year had been allotted to those who had recently received some promotion. Fair play had not been received in tho past.

Mr. George Flux seconded the motion,

The chairman said that 38 out of 124 teachers in the city and suburban ecliools would receive the extra £5.

Finally" a motion, was passed expressing pleasure at hearing that the Ministor had promised to revise tho Education Act so as to improve, if possible, the basis on which salaries are paid, and to raise the salaries. It was decided to ask the Minister to make the increases dato from January 1, 1914.