SOLDIER TEACHERS

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVI, Issue 20058, 3 October 1939, Page 10

SOLDIER TEACHERS

STATUS SAFEGUARDED RETURN TO PROFESSION REGULATIONS ISSUED (Per Press Association.) WELLINGTON, this day. The conditions under which teachers accepted for military service will receive leave of absence and the regulations governing their return to the teaching profession on their reentry into civil life, are announced by the Education Department in a memorandum to education boards and other edicational bodies.

“Teachers accepted for service in the military forces,” states a meorandum signed by Mr. N. T. Lambourne, Director of Education, “should apply to their boards of education for leave of absence. All leave granted to teachers to join the forces will be without pay, i.e., till the date of discharge from the military forces. The rights of all teachers as regards promotion and the scale of salary increments will be protected during their absence on military duties."

Teachers are advised to lodge with education boards or other employing authorities a general application setting out the type of position and the locality for which they desire to be considered. Ordinary vacancies are to be filled by the making of permanent appointments in the usual way. Relieving teachers are to receive a salary in accordance with the Teachers’ Salaries Regulations, 1938, or tile regulations for secondary schools or for manual and technical instruction, as the case may be.

Grading Marks

Teachers on military service will receive annually as grading marks for efficiency the average of their increases under the three headings, teaching, personality and organisation, for the past two or three years, whichever is the greater. Teachers who are classified under the regulations for manual and technical instruction will, so far as possible, be classified as if they had continued teaching and had maintained their previous rate of progressive efficiency. On their return to teaching they will have the right of appeal against the grading or classification allotted to them during their absence on military service. As teachers are on leave during a period of their military service, such service will count as education service for all purpose. Two weeks’ leave for every year of absence with the military forces will accrue and may be taken as leave on the teachers’ return to duty. Payment for leave will be at the civilian rate of salary of the soldier on his return to duty, i.e., the date of his discharge from the military forces.

Superannuation Protected In event of the death of a teacher, an equivalent payment based on the leave then actually due will be made to the teacher’s dependants. All "superannuation rights of teachers will be protected. Contributions will be paid by the Government and will be credited to the teacher's superannuation accounts, as in the last war. The amount of Government contributions under this heading will be refunded to the next-of-kin in the event of the death of the contributor. The Government will pay all social security contributions (wages tax) on military pay received by teachers. Teachers in training who enter on military duties before the completion of their training period shall be deemed to have completed the full period of training on the date on 1 which they would normally have completed that training, and shall be awarded certificates on that date, pro-

vided their progress in study and in teaching skill have been satisfactory to the principal and senior inspector. If they have not completed one-half of their total training period, they will, after discharge from military duties, be required to complete their training by continuing their training college course for such a period as the Director of Education shall determine, provided the course shall not exceed two years in all. Should a student be discharged from military duties before the date on which he would normally have completed his full period of training he shall complete his training in the normal manner.