TEACHERS' SALARIES COMMISSION

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIII, Issue 118, 10 June 1901, Page 3

TEACHERS' SA L ARIES COMMISSION

The fo lowing has beeo unavoidably omitted from our preceding reports:— Mr W. E. Spencer, Inspector of Schools in Taranaki, in examination on Tour day said : To Mr McKenzie : He was in Otago and Waogauui districts before coming to f aracaki. He considered a country teacher with between 60 and 70 pupils was doing work equal to a first assistant male in such a school as the Central. And should get an equtl salary ? —Yes. Mr McKenzie: I agree with you that the work in a country school of 60 or 70 is quite as aiduous as ths first ma'e ar.d your supply of teachers is limited ? Mr Spencer: Yes. With the proposed scale do you anticipate any diflicoly iu tho supply ? No; at least not more than a tempo'ary difficulty.

Referriog to reiehers' certificat's, Mr Spencer taid he would net favour dividing the subjects at present required to be p ssed each year to enable them to take the first section of a degrcp. As to superannuation, he would favour a system B'milar to tbat adopted in banks, and he thought te chers could give a litt'e towards the fund. As to promotions, the present sjstem, with a few modifications, was a good one. Could yju not think of a system whereby teachers could have some hope of promotion on their merits?— They have that now.

Could you say what percentige of weges should paid to male and female ttachers if over 25 children —No. Do you not think a mala t'acber should receive .£IOO a year for a school of 20 ?-Yes; from £9O to £IOO. And ycu nould pay b;th male and femde the same? Yts; for tbey do equally gool work. Wou'd you make any diffare nca between married aud single t'achers?! -No. !

In suitab'edisfciic's, where the reads are god, would yr u extsnd the area of csmpulsory a'tendance? - Yes, to two and a half mi'es; and would add to tbe number of a'tetdaices squired from! each child, a'so. Tbe Government | should go leyond tbe .£4 at prtsentj allowed, in order to bring all up to a high co'onial attendance. If j ic nere made an alternative between' unequal salaries and a reduction in the cases of soaie of the more high'y paid teachers, I would favour the lower n •jf th'se, as ihey should have equainy f possible. To Mr D vvidrea: ITe approved the proposed grant .£5 tj s ho.h of 14. And you see that ihe salaries for such schools go from .£BO to £ 100, for ceachtrs of eitlur sex? —Yes.

After reaching the"livi g wage" you or sider a nercmtige of ditt'trecce should be introduced ? Yea. ! Continuing, Mr Speccer considered ths introduction of cert' Seated femile itito kchoola of 40 or upwards would make the wcrk easier, and the prop Bed sc*!e of salaries was fairly liberal. The reduction of 19 pupil teacher.) in this district wa? not a bid loss, if the certifinted teichers could be obtain d. Up to 250 the teim " in'aut mistresa" was not known pieviou.-ly; but io was now catried light ihtough th) service, undtr the sty e " firct female assistant," and he thought the syst.m a gcod one. Would is not be bet er to make the iertifi;ates required f.r 14 to 19 E4?

I djuot thiny to; though I may increase the markt next year. The cext cer ifl-ats requr. d now £2—sh.u'd oe E3, and-the following ones reduced accordingly. Headmasters of 250 to 600 sh'juiU poses) a good t>l!-rcucd knowh dge. assis ,-mt male s were oow D 3 from 250 tj 600, and B2 over-600.

Should they not be higher in the first ease wr lowtr in the second?— Without carefuly considiring the matter, I think they might be O in the second cas •,

Mr Spence said in reply to further questioas, there were four teachers in the country schools holding 0 certificates. Every encouragement should be given to teachers in the country co get tbe C certificate, and they 1 should be allowed to take one subject at a time lo acquire this. The headmaster at tbe Ueniral had a general supervisi n ov<r the Gou-tecay street iul'ant sthod. The W<st infant* (South .road) tchool tock cbildren up to S andard 111. On the whtle he approved a unforra scale of salaries 'or teachers. Whether cr not inspectors, if placed under the D<>pattment, would ba also available to advise Boards, would d-pend upon the regulations.

To Mr Stewart: He thought the adoption of a colonial scale of salaries would be a public benefit if tbe teachers received cdeqnate corjs : deration The proposed syet m of staffing was an inprovtment, and tre calculation of aonual avtrage attendances would give a greater stability to te&chers' appointments. Epedemic, by reducing attendances, affect B.ards as well as teachers. The establishment of classes for instruction in fchool management would be unde. taken by ibe inspectors. Which is tbe more difficult to get, a teacher who is specially fitted to iostiuci a large class, or one gifted with ability to conduct siy a large country schco;? Tl e -ne with agood organising Uility.

To Mr Luke: He was sole Inspector h?re. The osi of livicg in the different districts was scarcely likely to aftec!; a colonial scale of salaries. It w u!d be be'trr to limit the uum cr d sent to commit*ers for th ir choica to, say, four or five. The Board tad no r.gul tions regarding aided schools. One half-t : me school had beo suggested; bub it had nothing but cheapness to recommend it. To Mr Gilfedder: Most of the rcboels were adap'el to accommodate both head teacher and an assistant in tLeir work. The suggested payments to pupil teachers were good, exc&pt as regaids first-year pupil tiachers, who should get £25 icstead of £2O a year. The proposed iccrease of capit*tion I frcm £3 15s to £4 would give Taranaki an additional £BOO per ani.um. (To be continued.)