NEW SALARY SCHEME

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 760, 5 September 1929, Page 6

NEW SALARY SCHEME

DISCUSSION BY AUCKLAND TEACHERS MAIN FEATURES ACCEPTABLE The new salary scheme proposals of the Education Department were discussed at a meeting of the full executive of the New Zealand Educational Institute held in Wellington recent!} - . This morning Mr. F. A. Carry reported on the discussion to the annual meeting of the Auckland branch of the institute. The opinion of the conference in Wellington was that the main features of the scheme, its simplicity, the provision for salary to be determined on efficiency and not, as in the past, on average attendances, the wider range of salaries within groups, and the payment of removal expenses, was fully acceptable. The provision for compulsory transfer' of assistants, however, met with serious opposition. It was claimed that this is an essential feature of the scheme. While recognising the department’s view that, if a teacher is to proceed automatically from increment to increment. provided he passes the efficiency bar, there should be the right of the department to transfer him where he would be most needed. The conference felt there might be other ways of meeting the position. The scheme would merely place a self-imposed penalty upon those who preferred not to apply for a vacant position. These should be debarred from rising above the maximum of their group until such time as they choose to make an application and are appointed to another group. The quality of staffs would probably be reasonably even throughout the schools under such a system.

The conference held that no differentiation should be made in the basic salaries of men and women, although material provision for married allowances should be a feature of a satisfactory salary scheme. General objection was voiced to the regulation requiring an inspector to say, each year, whether or not a teacher is worthy of an increment, it was preferred that a teacher automatically receives his increment, unless an inspector reports the teacher is not worthy of such owing to inefficiency. Right of appeal should be granted to any teacher so affected. The grading numbers suggested as suitable as bars to the rising to a higher group were definitely rejected by a large majority of assistant teachers. An application of the numbers to the case of those holding, especially, gTades 2 and 3 assistantships, shows clearly two things: First, under the proposed bars, teachers would have required a much longer time to reach their present salaries than they have, and second, if the scheme came into immediate operation many would have to ‘‘mark time” at their present salaries, instead of proceeding to the maximum of the group as they will under the present scheme.

In addition to decisions concerning the points of the proposed scheme, considerable attention was paid to some other aspect of salaries and regulations concerning appointments. It was considered that right of appeal should be granted in the case of non-appointmeut to a position sought ami against the transfer of a lower graded teacher to a position a higher g-aded teacher would secure in open competition.

No educational legislation can be expected this session, according to Mr. Garry, but the Minister of ifiducatlon has promised relief next year.