THE EDUCATION BILL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXXX, Issue 17, 7 September 1914, Page 4

THE EDUCATION BILL.

At the annual meeting of the Secondary School Assistants’ Association, the inadequacy of the Education Bill was specially emphasised, the report claiming that while the Bill is of beuelit to the smaller secondary schools and to the majority of female assistants it must he regarded as a comparative failure for these reasons“(a) It leaves secondary education in the same chaotic, state ns .before; (b) it makes no difference to the men and women who have spent years in the service; (c) it indicates that, while we are to be described as professional men and women, we are still to be paid on a scale quite inadequate to our professional standing; (d) it offers a good inducement to a single man or woman to become a teacher; it offers no inducement to men and women of ability to remain in the service; (e) the moneys that shall he paid in salaries by the Boards cannot be paid, for in many cases the additional grants will nor cover the increases which have to be made to salaries; (f) it leaves the question of superannuation severely alone; and so wo who happen to have salaries of over £3OO still pay our superauuation payments out of it, still pay income tax—not on what is left, Lml what we are nominally in receipt of; finally we have our retiring allowances computed on the last three years of service, instead of, as in the case of Civil Servants, on the three best; con-, secutive years. Why this invidious distinction.” Amongst other matters in the discussion which followed the report it was urged that the capitation grant to secondary boys’ schools should be materially increased. The meeting concluded by adopting a resolution that in view of the serious financial crisis that must necessarily result from the war,', the meeting iyas strongly c.f opinion that ,any clauses in the Education Bill involving increased, expenditure should not become operative until one year,after the declaration of .peace.