TEACHERS' WORK & PAY

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2181, 20 June 1914, Page 6

TEACHERS' WORK & PAY

PROTEST MEETING "THE CINDERELLAS 0| THE SERVICE" CHANCES DESIRED. The meeting of public school teachers, convened by the Wellington branch of tlio New Zealand Institute, for the purpose of placing beforo Wellington district members «f Parliament the views of the institute on tlio reforms desired to be embodied in the new Education Bill,-was held last evening in thy Masonic Hall, and was very largely attended, Mr. .1 Tamblyn, president of the Wellington branch of tlio Institute, occupied "the chair. Members of Parliament present were: Messrs. A. H. Mind-marsh' (Wellington South), J-. Robertson (OtakD, T. M. Wilford (Hutt), Dr. N<hvW» (Wellington East), and Mr. \V, H. I> Bell (Wellington Suburbs). Apologies for unavoidable absence were received from Sir Walter Buchanan, the Hen. A. L. llerdman, the Hon. $\ j,f, B. Fisher, and Mr. G. R. Svkes. M.l\ (Masterton). The chairman stated thai the. views which would be expressed by speakers were not those of Wellington teachers only, but of the Teachers' Institute throughout the Dominion. Salaries. Mr. A. Erslune, president of the Now Zealand Educational Institute, said that an important feature of the reforms that were looked' for in the Kill which was to bo introduced this session would bo an jnercasa hi the •salaries: paid to teaeher-s, A Mum presented to Parliament Inst session showed that the average salarv paid to teachers in 1904 was £1® mid in 1912 it was £152. ' It would tints be seen that the Education Service Was the "Cinderoila" of the Public Services of tiie Dominion. In the meantime there, had been a marked advance in the cost of living. To men in other callings compensation had been made by increased salaries. There was a great necessity for a new basis on which salaries should be paid. Teachers should bo graded (and sot tho position'), with a: maximum salary attached to .each.grade, the renuifemeirtß being efficiency and length of sen-fee. At the outset,of a teacher's" career there .was .a.great differentiation in resnuMration as, compared .with the remunerati-an of cadets .entering other'Bepartaieiits, as would be seen from the folkwiug comparison;— ', PostOfiee. Railway. Profes- Pwpil Clerical, sional. teacher. Ist year ... £50 £50 £OT £35i 2nd year ... £65 £83 £05 £43 3rd year ... £80 £100 £80 £35 4th year ... £06 £120 £95 £30* sth. year ... £110" £140 £110 £30* SSeconiJ jea-f. [*£30 additional if living away from home. These 'salaries arc paid whitethe pupil-teacher is at the- training colleges for two years,] ■ . By the age of 28, withmrt aiiy eompetitfon, the man in the clerical branch of the Post Ofiico or the Railway might bo receiving £220 per annum. There were not many teachers who had that; outlook when they entered the Service. It was the same in the Government t»ifcInsiiranco Department, In the Eailway', Service 63 per cent. of the. Krsi ,Divi- : , sion received £200 a yeat'.o.r <sver. In tlio teaching profession 29 per cent, were receiving £250 or. over. When tlie teacher loft the training college he found himself in competition with .'his fellows. There was no position ready . made for him, and he had to beeo-ine an expert in canvassing school committees. The minimum salary had now been, fixed at £100, with an advance to £120 by £10 increments. This was better than it had been, but it was a long way short of what obtained in other brandies of the , Public Service or other callings. Either the services of a, teacher were- of less value than that those rendered by a civil servant, or tlio teacher, was ■underpaid. It was also desired that there should, be a minimum ■ -salary of considerable- over £100 for a journeyman teacher. A v«rj> largo percentage of teachers were-?engaged in . country schools, ranging- in attendaa.ee {Mm 21 to 120. Those teachers were, doing good work-on the confines of civilisation, and it was a standing grietanoc amongst settlers that their .children were not receiving tho education that the.y should-receive, because they could never keejp their teachers. Tlio institute consitlerod that the mihin-ttrm "fop a* qualified teacher should be- &K%. rising by grades to a masimtn'ti of. £500. As teachers they were Goneer'ned not only in improving their own financial pOsi-. tion, but they were also concerned m improving tho cause of education, anil a little reflection Would show .that the ono had a distinct bearing on tho -ofM*, Tho attendance at the 55ew Zealand schools was about one-fourth that of- the London schools, but New Zealand tvaa not spending on prteary ediieation any* thing like one-fourth of* what li.ondon proposed to expend on it this year", Tho position in the Dominion was that, the teaching profession was Hot "aifcractiUg -to itself the best turn available, anc! good men were leaving the profession on tho first opportunity offering, tor moro remunerative appointments. They were suffering from eontpetitian from the public service and eomsMroial, professional, and manufacturing Walks of life. The only remedy was to.- make the service more attractive/and the way to do that was to make substantial increases in teachers' salaries and remove, many of the irksome cenidiiiotts at prosent being endured. (Applause,) The Ordinary and the Specialist, Mr. F. Coombs, president ©i the Wairarapa branch of the . Educational" Institute, supported Mr. Erskine frarn. tho country teacher's point of vie*.. He said that the Hon. Mr. Allen had seen fit to fix a minimum of £600 for efficiency in the teaching of physical training. He. (Mr. Coombs) 'thought that Mr. Royd Garlick's minimum should b& the minimum of a head teacher with something like, a thousand of the country's future citizens under Ids Control. (Applause.) Basis of Payment. The chairman, speaking- on the subject of tho basis of computation of a, teacher's salary, said that at present, schools were .graded on th'b average annual attendance, and salaries were computed according from that grading. That might bo a sound basis,, with certain restrictions for the eowptjtatinlt of staffs, but as a basis for calculating a teacher's salary it was utterly urisoimd, It was unsound because, it was a fas-tor over which teachers had absolutely no control, and. imposed great injustice ah teachers throughout the service. As an. instance of the effect of this sy'statA sicomputing salaries, Mr. Tanjblj'n citaj the cast of a woman assistant-teacher in a suburban school. She was appointed first-assistant in a Grade 7 school in 1909, and keld that.'position until the beginning of this yeiii', when tlie school rose by increi\s«l attendance to a Grade 8 school. 1?ik1oi tin? isesent system, it- was necessary hi appoint a male - assistant to this? school, iind the male assistant to that grade of school liad to be first-jissistant. The lady teacher, perforce, had to.rank as second-assistant in Grade 8 school. Her status was reduced, and not flidy that, but her salary was likewise reduced, from Grade ■{ to Grade 3, Her work had increased, and hm: resjicmsi-, bilitieit Mel incr=asetj,. Hut Iw ,(r« decreased, by. £30. . Toe sy.stein. Wdej

which such an injustice as that conki possibly take place was ono that wanted remedying. It was- also to bo remembered that the injustice was not merely for the present, hut as use teacher was Hearing her retiring ago, Nor siifjcrasmu-iitioti Was 'affected, Ho had a scheme' to put forward which would prevent such things happening ill the- future. The remedy was ■ shat there should.be a different, basis for the computation of salaries, and cisut basis should be proficiency and service. That was the crux of tlio whole- matter. Hkeryone. expected to fie awarded according to merit and, ability and work' done, and that was 'a fair basis for any service. The institute did not rank proficiency and service as being equal attributes, but gave thom Uio proportion of seven to one in. favour of proficiency. If the salary was- made dependent chiefly .upon. efficiency, Ho teacher's salary would then be reduced vhik the teacher' remained- efficient,*(Applause.) AjspciftirnehtsMr. W. T.' Grundy had charge of the subject of appointments. In Wellington district. there had been seething discontent-caused by the present meth-od-«f making appointments. Some af, the best teachers could not canvass, and* for that reason went to the wall. He hoped that- tinder the new Bill, whilst perhaps the,v might still be tan suited, all power of appointment would be taken from school committees, and placed entirely h\ the hands of the boards. In Auckland- all teneh-ers Wove : graded by the inspectors, ynd all difft-, ' c.uKy in tiie making of appointments ■ liadbfleu removed. The Wclling-to-ii Institute desired that this/reform should go farther than district griding, and that the -teachers of tlio Dominion should be grade! To achieve that tho first step- must be the centralising «f ; the inspectorate. That in it-self would ' ; ckt away with many of the evils they were at present labouring under. (Aj.)•#a^,e.) Air. J. C. Webb followed on the same ' lines. inWßasjad Staffs wsntsd. Mr. G. 'M'Me-n'an had charge of the. . subject of tho-staffing. of schools-, Toaeli- ; crs, with tlie largely inereftsed svllabiis, and Hie tliffera-nt methods of' treatment of a wide range of subjects, 6-hoWld not be asked- to ,-coirtrol. stieh •classes as vpcro now to bo found in maiiy of-the .schools in the centres. In the Louden County Council's schools which were of eonsklei-able size, the average ttu-mber of children entrusted to one teacher was 39,- In tlie Now York fitv ssihoaJs, the average was 34.5. In New' I /mland-tlie average was 48. HcwouM | nice to sen the meaihors of Parliament ; impressed with the fact that classes of seventy arid'eighty, as 116 t<) b6 . }llet with np«-,Hi the -Dg-miiiren. should- be mads snitsossible."'- " ;' , ;■ Ooufioii .of fduc'atiott* •Mr. H. said t.fet v the PToposnl toesaWish/a'Couneit of Ed : n-' cation to taIJQ ever the administration of eduoatio.iv in this country was now meeting with general acceptance, and •ir y n.i t<)M - wceutis hy Mr- Q. '?!; T'loflisott, ehairmaft of feat yeav's ■ Bdneatioa Co-rnmittee .of the House of ■ Itebrestatativss, that, in"- this year's till there would be a prope-sal for aft advisory council. ■ Really the only twoi«.portanffn,nctions left to Education l-o-ards we-rft the-appeintnie-nt of teachers and inspectors, whieii were iusi tlie two funotions they were u-fifttte'd" to p&rl«rm effiffiently, by reason of tlw ntijitber or education districts the Dominion was divided njto. In view of alt tlie cir«irastaneess the Insfeitnte had as-'kocl tho ; Gomnrneflt to propose Sn this : mil a council of cftnatimi, to be en- . trusted .with the work of—(1) Preserih-■i-fig the daily course of study, frons the kindergarten to tho niiiversitv; {2) the appmnlineni:,- grading, and controlling Of teachers; (3) the ■aniJo.intjnent and con- ■ trolling of inspectors; (4) the '-.providing ..of a. "sufficient suj»lv of trained teach* ers;(S)-the coirtroWing of the education, njotlical inspection, etc., of ehil--dren; and (6) generally to advattce the edncatianal system, .iceordtog to inod-c-rn ideas. _ Miss p» Myers, also spoka along tho -, lines of tho Institute's desires concern* : ij»g_ the: setting up of acornoil of edn- ' satujn. by Mimbor. fpr laatt. Mr. Wilford* H.¥\ expressed jthe apprem-ati-on of himself" and brother' nwnvbers of the .jnafl.ttcr, in which the j Teadli-er-s' Institiiie had pteced their case-'befwe them, .He suggested, in [i&rdef- that, the views'. might Itavo a-wid-er scoiie, that the- institute should get tlis Speaker's periiii'ssioii for the tlSe of a. largo efim-ifi-iitea roam at tlio IteusOj. a'iid on some" foroiifto'ti 'eitrU: in the approach in $ sossioii call a meeting of m.tirrihers of Parlinnie-nt, and: at tlmt niefit-inti;-.repeat the speeches they had .itst heard. By that rftoans they Voul4 liavo the opportuM'it.v ",s>f practically the whole. If ohsc. Ho nieiltjoiied that the requoet, for a. eoat&ofi of edueatferi had behind it. th& force of the teflommend-ation of the Reyal Com-missj-o-n on EdUeatioil of 1912. plause.)v '. Dr., MieWrtiari's Views, . Dr. ■ Kewtp'a*, M.P.,■ said thai 'teafi'hhad suffered feotntlfo fact, of the continivatioh of ptoyiw.cialisni. Until teaehers bec-a.nie part of .%& : Givil Servico of the Dominion,' so- long' would tliey hav-s many of tjij; ..griovahtes iiud.er Tfh-teh tfey were at present 1 enffering. He thought the present- :Ho1^!* i, ?*■ Representatives meant in many w'ays to better the- condition of tea.eljer.s-. (An* pku.se.) '. A vote-, of thanks to the rneahsrs of Parliatttent for their attendance concluded tlie -proceedings, - ..