TEACHERS' PROVIDENT FUND.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXIV, Issue 22, 27 January 1902, Page 2

TEACHERS' PROVIDENT FUND.

- i'TtHUi New Zealand Herald, in referring *o tiie annual meeting of the Teachers' Institute recently held at New Plymc.ufcb, says: - " Apart from any prac*«:al work done by the institute for , (tJie furtherance of education, the good \ '!■ ihat such a meeting dees in bringing , parsons of different dispositions and ! divergent views together, for the discussion of matters in which they are ! specially iuterested, is considerable, and the teachers separated at the conslus- j ( \ ion of the meeting to go north, south,,! ' east, and west, throughout New Zea-| land, invigorated and strengthened in their resolve to do the best that in ' them lay for their clients, the children ' of the colony. Duiing the discussion ' . of purely personal matters, that which ' engaged the attention of the meeting ' more than any other were the proI posals brought forward from Auckland ] tor the establishment of a provident i fund. It is a matter for congratulation l thit such a fund bas at last been sanctioned, and that with the co-operat on of the various Boards of Education the E teachers shall have established a fund - that will be a gracious source of comfort to aged teachers and to those '• that are infirm, to orphan children * and to the widows of teachers. . It is proposed to ask every teacher to voluntarily relinquish one-half per cent. t t of his or her salary for the purpose of 1 the fund, and to leave the same in the * hands of the various Boards of Education to be ultimately paid to the hon--8 treasurer of the fund. In this way the I promoters hope to raise £ISOO a year, t and to supplement this by £IOOO s raised by the personal ettorts of the » teachers of the 1200 schools of the colony. It is clearly recognised that ■ this provident fund is by no means an 9 adeqmte or a final solution of the question. It is but a b?ginning, en effort - at self-help, a deehred determination 8 on the part of th« teachers that before j| asking for a Government superannuv B tion scheme they shall have proved a their willingness and their ability to - help themselves and lay the foundation of a. great oomprebeni>ive scheme that * shall be a supreme satisfaction to all. ' It ia proposed to disburse £SOO a year \ foe the purpose of the fund as soon as the payments shall have reached £ISOO i a year, and though some preference r will be shown to members of the insti- ' tute and others who have subactibed to 5 tae fund, the members of the institute c at New Plymouth showed magnanimity and generosity worthy of them, as well t as business acumen, when they decided ' that any teacher in need of help in any r part of New Zealand should have a right to lodge his or her claim for con--3 si deration by the Provident Fund Oom- * mittee. It now remains for the teachers of the colony to loyally and ' gnnero'usly support the teachers' provi- [■ dent fund, the establishment of which will be carried out in the moat econo- ■ mical mianner possible, all services' 1 be ing en tirely honorary."