COLONIAL SCALE OF SALARIES.

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 22 February 1901, Page 4

COLONIAL SCALE OF SALARIES.

For many years the Dunedin Star advocated the introduction of a colonial scale of salary for teachers. This reform in our education system has always seemed to us abso!utely necessary if we desire to get lid of the parochial element in the administration of our Education Act, or if we wish to do justice to thay teacher, children, and tax-payers of the Colony. Under the varying conditions of the many education districts —thenumber of schools, the number of children attending these schools, and the mean average per is quite impossible to have anything like a uniform scale of salary for the whole Colony. To emphasise this statement, and by way of contrast and comparison, wo shall here give a few figures compiled from the most recently issued report of the Minister of Education :

Tho above table shows that the number of pupils belonging to the schools varies from 28,013 in Auckland to 1,292 in Westland, while the number of schools is 355 in Auckland and 29 in the Grey district. Again, we see that in four districts the average number of pupils per school is over 80, while in Nelson it is only 37.9, in Westland 34.2, and in Marlborough only 28.1. Now, under such varying conditions, it is manifestly impossible that a satisfactory scale of salaries for teachers can be paid by the several education boards under any system of equal capitation grant. The district most favorably situated will pay larger salaries than the less-favored districts, and ic is only natual that the best teachers will gravitate towards those parts of the Colony where the highest salaries are paid. It is not fair to the pupils or to the taxpayers in these small districts that they should not have the benefit—especially in the small scho Js—of a class of teacher as highly qualified as those in tho larger districts. We do not say that the introduction of a colonial scale of salary will entirely remove the evil complained of —there will always be some districts in which it will be more desirable to live than others. But if we wish to give our education system a national tone, if we are ever to remove the dissatisfaction existing amongst our teachers, and to do justice to them, to say nothing of the pupils and taxpayers, we must have a colonial scale of salaries.

Education 1 No of | No of ; Average District. 1 schools! Pupils. 1 per School. Auckland ... 353 28,013 63.8 Taranaki ... I 63 4.039 ! 49.1 Wanganui ... j 132 10,321 31.7 Wellington ... i 146 14,768 80.4 Hawke's Bay 75 7,860 i 83.2 Marlborough 62 2,100 28.1 Nelson ... i 123 5,835 1 37.9 Grey ... 1 29 6,605 48.7 Westland ... 33 1,292 34.2 N.Canterbury 199 20,218 81,1 S. Canterbury 07 5,139 65.5 Otago 222 20,608 78.2 Southland ... 141 1 9,517 559