UNCERTIFICATED TEACHERS' PAY

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1879, 13 October 1913, Page 5

UNCERTIFICATED TEACHERS' PAY

Sir, —There is an injustico being done to a class of workers iu New Zealand which nobody seems to have found out. 1 refer to the payments of uncertificated teachers. For a long time past a deduction-of 10 per cent, has been made from tho salaries of these teachers just because they havo no certificate. They do tho same work as their certificated brethren. Why not the same pay? Salaries are small enough, without having such a largo slice taken off. If the services' of these teachers aro worth having they are worth paying for. Many of them are tip-top teachers, with a great deal of experience, which is worth more than theory. it has now become a recognised fact that the ability to pass examinations is not a test of efficiency. In the last Regulations for the Examination of Teachers a clause is inserted giving tho inspec-tor-General power to issue a certificate to a person who has satisfactorily completed a course of training at a training college, but who has fajled to pass the examination. Why should not a teacher, who has been teaching for years, and has obtained good reports 'year after year from tho inspectors, 'also get a certificate? , When a vacancy occurs, by all means give the certificated person first clianco, but if there is no certificated teacher available, let us not be so unmanly as to under-pay the person who fills in the gap by ton per cent. -I am, etc., ' WILLIAMS ,