TEACHERS' SALARIES

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 257, 18 July 1918, Page 6

TEACHERS' SALARIES

Sir,—We have heard a good deal lately about the inadequacy of primary school! teachers' salaries, but as far as I kntfw nothing has been said about the salaries of secondary school teachers. It is a. well-known fact that 'secondary teachers are paid at a comparatively. lower rate than primary. A married first assistant in a Grade V school gets up to -£270, and in a Grade VII ecliool up to .£330; whereas a junior assistant in a. secondary school, taking work of a liiglnystandard, gets only about .£2OO, and even, n first assistant only about £350. It. may be said that 1 a' first assistant at a primary school is in many cases (certainly not in all) a better qualified tcaoher and a man of higher academical attainments than a junior assistant at a, secondary school. If this is 60, should it be the case? Is it a good thing for a. boy to como from the sixth standard under a teacher worth .£330 to the third form of a secondary school under a teacher worth only JC2OO ? If the highlypaid primary teacher lias ihe .necessary qualifications for secondary work, why does he not take it up? Simply because it would mean a decrease in salary. Moreover, his chances of promotion to a headmastership would bo vary niucli smaller. If higher salaries were paid to secondary teachers a better type of man would be attracted to the work. Since a primary assistant is paid u.p to ,£330, I consider that the minimum salary for a secondary assistant should be <1:300— I am> etC " GRADUATE.