SECONDARY SCHOOLS ASSISTANTS

Dominion, Volume 9, Issue 2867, 4 September 1916, Page 4

SECONDARY SCHOOLS ASSISTANTS

ANNUAL.REPORT V : ; 'The. annual report of the Secondary.' Schools Assistants'' Association of New Zealand states that tho past year on the wliole. has been an uneventful one. No further progress has' been made in the association's attempts to .-remedytho injustic'o that is still'threatening those secondary and primary teachers, who, to augment their by no moans largo salaries, liavq accepted portions, 'as. evening - instructors '■ in 'technical schools, and have been called upon by tho Department to pay arrears on superannuation as far back as 1912. Many of these teachers had. no idea that they ought to hav.e contributed on evening work; many of thein wore not 'oven 'advised : by tho .-controlling..authorities of tho technical schools 'that theymiist :bccoiiio ■ contributors. The result- is that the department has demanded from individual teachers sums varying from £3 to £30 at a timo when money is of paramount importanco to tho poorly paid teacher. Apart from this, the wholo system,-says the report, of compelling contributions from such sources is '.Unfair. No, teacher expects to have to, , supplement his •salary by means of evening work right up to his retiring age. Ho hopes, as his'salary increases, to be ablo-.to' give up such work. • 'When he does'give up evening work, all his contributions from that source aro lost. ,So, too, if -through ill : health ho can no longer keep up his evening work, not only will lie receivc no benefit from such contributions when he retires, but he cannot even receive back, without interest, any .money that ho has paid in. The committee have a case in mind where" a teacher has paid in about £80 from such evening work. Recently he retired; he loses the whole sum_ of money. It seems to-_the_,, committed much- faire.r-iliat ■ contributions to superannuation from evening work should be made optional. If a teacher elects to contribute, let him receive, over and above his ordinary retiring allowance, one-sixtieth of his salary for evening work for every year that he has contributed from such salary.

Deferring to salaries, the report says: The question of salaries is no longer the vexed one it was two, or three years ago. From information gathered by your executive, a considerable improvement has been effected. Tho position, is. not yet satisfactory. Wo- secondary. teachers, who consider ourselves professional men and women', are sadly behind othei: professional people in status and salary. V, r c should rank at least as tho equals of primary teachors in our pay. As a matter'of fact we. are the. ivorst paid of all the teaching profession. . As long as secondary education is under the control of some thirty_ or forty governing bodies, each of which has its own idea of what it considers to be a fit salary for a teacher provided that the minimum and average salary is paid in accordance with the Act, as long as that condition of affairs obtains, secondary teachers will have a just reason fpr coniplaint. AV.e are' firmly ot lhc;opinion that-a Dominion scale of salaries for secondary teachers is the. only way to remove the present discontent. If the pooling of all endowments is the stumbling block, then let the endowments bo pooled ; but we contend that no such drastic measure is necessary. By tho. expenditure or some £20,000 over and abovo what is at present expended on secondary education, our association scliemo drawn lip two years ago could_ lie put into operation to tlio satisfaction of all secondary teachers in New Zealand. Our

own sdienio could not, however, bo put into operation until secondary teachcrs wero properly graded as-wo proposed in that scliome, viz., accordin}: to academic qualifications, service, aud proficiency as estimated by tho.inspectors in conjunction with the head- ■ master.- ' " ,

The association believes that tho time isiripo.for .il closer co-ordination in the ■work of primary, secondary, and: university education. They _ believe, Tor example, that a proved primary teacher should be ablo to take his or her pupils from the primary school into a -secondary school; iu other words, that the'pay: and status of a" -secondary teacher should bo high enough to make iL«worth whilo for a primary teacher to take up secondary work. It is not unusual- to. litid the,.sixth standard . of a primary school taught, as it should be, liy a well qualified ' man or woman. What happens when tho boy •or girl goes to a secondary school ? Too often it happens that tho teacher of the 111 form (lower) isi tho youngest and '.ino§t inexperienced 'of tho assistants.' Taking • into "consideration the difference in. environment; the difference in the nature, of-thd work, and most im-: p'ort-ank of all tho difference in the' nature of the tuition, is it to bo wondered at that-'many a. child does not fulfil expectations when,it leaves the primary school anil goes to a high, school ?•'. Undoubtedly tho teacher in a •primary school ought to be ablo to go, into, a high. school with his or her pupils.- This, in. the opinion of the executive, is one of the strongest argu-; mc-nts, apart from everything elsfe, why •secondary education'should be co-ordin-ated with primary education in all respects. ' '

; Do wo. secondary teachers understand the primary teachers? Do primary teachcrs understand lis? Aro wo conversant with their difficulties, or are they conversant with ours? 'Without answering with 1 a decided, negative, it must be admitted' that both branches of the profession could be a great deal more helpful to each other than is the case at present. Hitherto the whole educational system has been hampered by this distinction .between primary, technical, secondary, kindergarten, etc., education. Tho members of the primary system live in. their little world, the secondary teachers live in theirs, the technical school teachers in theirs, and so on. Is it not time that teachers of New Zealand regarded education in a hroadcr way—from a national standpoint,?, Is the time not ripe when we should agitate for the formation of ono body that will comprise all the teachers above enumerated? By all means let us, for example, keep our own association, but let us have also the right and' privilege of being members of one great educational body that will meet once a year to discuss educational questions of national importance. Having this in view, the executive has asked Mr. Parkinson, secretary of the N.Z.E.1., to address the conference of secondary assistants.

The balaiicc-sheet shows a credit of £94 ss. >

Tho roll of honour for the association is a« underCapt. D. S. Chisliolm, Capt. A. J. Cross, Capt. J. 0. Dineeii, Capt.'A."W. King, Capt. H. C. Meiklo, Major J. Power, Capt. A. W. Short, Capt. 0. Williams, Lieut. F. A. Arey, Lieut. A. P. Castle, Lieut. K Goekroft, Lieut. Espener.(wounded), Lieut,.. H. Fathers, Lieut. C. -K. Hind, Lieut. L. S. Jennings, Lieut. 0. 51. Little, Lieut. J. Manson, Liout. ,T. B. Man-soil. Lieut. M. D. Rohan, Lioui;.. C. H. R. Senior, Lieut. C. M. Smith, Lieut. F. A. Tavlor, Sergt. A. E. Caddick. Sergt. D. O'Connor, Sergt.. H. V. Soarle, Sorgt. Tl. D. Skinner (wounded), Pte. .J. 111. Boyne. Ptfl. K. CI. Fraser (killed), Pte. J. B. Gibson, Pie. J. A. Gordon, Pte. V. J. B. Hall (died of wounds; gaiued D.C.M.), Pte.. J. C. Hamblyn, Pto. J. M'lntyro, Pte. J. Thompson,