A. ERSKINE.]

95

1.—13 a.

The Institute considers that the salaries proposed for assistants are not sufficient for married men. Most of those concerned live in the areas of high rents, and the general rise in the cost of living has reduced the value of their salaries below original amount. A very large proportion of these teachers have to add to their incomes by private teaching to the detriment pf their school-work. The Institute proposes, for salaries only, the following amendment of the schedule :—

GRADES PROPOSED-FOR SALARIES ONLY.

The Institute asks that in schools of Grade Vb no second assistant should receive less than a Grade IV salary. Those concerned (there are not many) are mostly women teachers of proved efficiency, who, besides taking charge of the infants' department, exercise a general supervision of the girls of the school, and direct their instruction in sewing. The Institute considers that the salaries proposed to be paid to pupil-teachers are totally inadequate. They should he paid at least as well as cadets appointed to other branches of the PublicService. The Institute proposes that Part V of the Sixth Schedule should read as follows :— SECONDARY DEPARTMENTS OF DISTRICT HIGH SCHOOLS. Average Attendance. Grades of Salaries of Assistants. 12-20 .. 4 21-30 .. 5 31-55 .. 6 4 56-90 .. 6 4 3 . 91-130 .. 7 5 3 3 131 165 .. 7 5 4 3 3 166-200 .. 7 5 4 4 3 3 The Institute points out that from the point of view of the community, perhaps the greatest reform of recent years has been the institution of the free-place system. Outside the larger towns the success of the system depends on the quality of the teaching staff of the secondary departments. The salaries hitherto paid have been so low that the best of teachers have abandoned this part of the work, or are trying to do so. The result is that the work tends to fall into the hands of inexperienced and ill-equipped juniors, who are by no means qualified to carry on the work as it should be carried on. Experience litis shown that the work demands, and will repay, the best efforts of the most skilled and enthusiastic teachers, and the Institute strongly urges that such salaries will be offered as will secure to this part of the education system the right kind of assistance. It is not too much to say that on the use made of the free places in district high schools depends the future of very many of the best of the young people of the country districts and smaller towns. The Institute commends to the consideration of Parliament the necessity of providing what may be called picked staffs for normal schools and training colleges. The suggested scale of staffs and salaries appended to these notes is submitted for most favourable consideration. The Institute requests that, in the matter of the introduction of the increased scale of salaries, the teaching service be treated in the same way as is customary with other public servants —that is to say, that the scale be dated back to the beginning of the financial year. Finally, the Institute takes upon itself the responsibility of asserting that all the increases of salary and additional staffing that have been asked for are justified by the importance that is to be attached to education in the life of the nation. The Institute urges that the cost of education should be looked at not so much as money spent, but as capital invested. Economists and educationists alike declare that capital so invested yields a better dividend in increased national output than any other investment. This country has invested large sums in railways, land-settlement, and other measures for increasing the total national efficiency. The Institute presses the consideration of the importance of education, both intellectual and physical, as the greatest of all means of fostering that part of the national life which, while not itself reducible to financial terms, is yet the moulding-force of the character and intellect that will eventually decide the economic and financial position of the nation. Rich as New Zealand is per head of population, it cannot be said that it is spending as much in proportion on the education and training of its own citizens as some other countries. The private wealth of the people of New Zealand is given as £245 per head of the population, excluding Maoris. It cannot therefore be maintained that the country is unable to afford proper support of its education system. In fact, it is doing less in this direction than London, although the conditions of this Dominion necessitate a greater relative expenditure for the same services.

t„ -om Grade. Atter.dance. In Bill. i Schools. In Bill. By Institute Salary. Attendance. j Schools. Salary. I II II Va Vb, c V 9-20 21-35 36-80 81-120 121-240 241-400 643 456 508 115 122 66 £ £ 100-140 140-190 200-250 200-250 260-310 320-360 9-20 21-30 31-80 81-120 201-400 643 360 604 201 102 f £ 130-140 140-190 200-250 260-310 320-360