Teachers Salaries.

Levin Daily Chronicle, 10 December 1918, Page 4

Teachers Salaries.

; THE PAYMENT OF CASUALS. The Wellington Education Board at last week's meeting received a letter from the Education Department in reference to the payment of salaries to j casual teachers. : The Department wrot<v. that the Quesi tion ihad been .raised as to whether a (teacher who had been appointed or 1 transferred to a new position during, a period when the school was closed for | holidays should be paid salary for the intervening period—whether a teacher appointed! during the midsummer vacation to a .school thiit did not reopen till the beginning of February could properly be paid the salary of the new position from January 1. As there might be several appointments of that kind, more especially during the long holidays now commencing owing to. the prevailing epidemic,. it wa.s desirable to adopD a uniform practice in suchl cases, and! it had been considered necessary to inform boards of the Department's attitude in the matter. In the Department's view, a teacher was not in general entitled to salary in any new position until he actually commenced his duties as teacher in the school and the payment of salary from an earlier date could not be justified, as entailing an unwaranted charge on the public funds. . . . Payment for the long vacation should be exceptional and should not be made unless the relieving teacher had been employed for the whole of the previous school yoar and then only in cases Where the teacher concerned was filling a position some I time prior as well as during the vacation. The attitude of the Department was roundily condemned by members of the Board, Mr E. S. Rishworth stating that the Department showed n lack of intelligence. The proposal that relieving teachers were to be deprived of their proper earnings at this time indicated that the Department did not grasp the situation. During the past few weeks the teachers had rallied roundi in a splendid spirit of self-sacrifice and this was to be their eward. The Chairman said the Minister and the Department had aranged to meet the Board and discuss the subject. Mr C. I. Harkness expressed the opinion that the Department was taking advantage of the misfortunes of teachers owing to the prevailing epidemic. Mr R. M'Callum. M.P., said the Department was always urging the nt'eresity for decentralisation, but if the letter was an exposition of the spirit of the Department, teachers would see that the Department wanted to bring the methods of the wharf into the teaching profession. On the motion of Mr Moss it was resolved : "That the Board entirely disapproves of the instructions given by the Department as to the payment of casual teachers, and wouldi urge the Minister to give Boards credit for looking after the best interests of the schools, and at the .same time protecting the interests of the ratepayers."