101

1.—13 a.

A. EKSKINK.

18. Could there be under any scale ?—Oh, no, not under a scale drawn up on average attendances, 19. But even if you draw it up on any other principle the number of teachers available for large schools must be according to the number of large schools l . —That is so. 20. And if the number of large schools is small the number of places will be small whatever way you draw it up ? —Yes. 21. What will those in Grade 111 get in six years' time if they remain there ?—They will be receiving £250 in the sixth year. 22. And house allowance or a house '. —Yes, there will be a house allowance of £30 a year, I think. 23. Generally those schools are in the country ? —Yes. 21. Do you think it is dearer to live in the country than in the town \ —Well, 1 did not think so until a few weeks ago, and a number of men who lived in the country set out to convince me that it was quite as expensive and probably more so. 25. You were convinced that it was so '! —They have to travel from their schools into the village, and so on, where they get their food-supplies from. They must travel sometimes. Then the cost of supplies in the backblocks is greater. 26. Would they not get their food-supplies in the village where they live ?—Not necessarily. 27. What size do the schools of Grade 111 go to ? —Up to 120. 28. What population would you expect with a school of 120 ? —You would have a village there. 1 thought you were referring to the smaller schools. 29. There would be 700 people possibly ? —Yes. 30. Would you not expect that in a place where there were 700 people there would be a store where they could get their supplies I —Certainly. 31. What would be the necessity to travel ? —I was referring to the smaller schools. When I discussed that in my evidence I was referring to schools of Grades I and 11. 32. But you do not propose to increase schools of Grade lIIa ?—Yes, we do. I explained that in my evidence last time. I thought I would be only wasting time by repeating it. We proposed that schools between 31 and 35 should be placed in Grade 111. That is the suggestion I made lasttime. There are ninety-six schools there that we propose to put up into Grade 111. That makes the 604 schools. 33. Just some of them ?—There are ninety-six of them. 34. What about the others ? —The ones between 21 and 30—there will be 360 of those, and they will be left in Grade 11. 35. I am speaking of the schools from 31 to 35 ? —We propose that Grade II shall be 21 to 30, and that the remainder of those schools of 31 to 35 shall be placed in Grade 111. 36. Have you worked out what that would cost ?—Yes. To place the ninety-six schools of an average attendance of 31 to 35 in Grade 111 as suggested would cost £5,760. 37. What about the other schools ?—To place 115 schools of 81 to 120 in Grade IV as we suggest would cost, for headmasters £6,900, for 115 assistants £3,450, and for 150 junior assistants £2,300, a total of £12,650. 38. Have you made similar calculations as to what the rest of the proposal would cost ? —Yes. To put thirty-six schools of Grade IVc in Grade V would cost £3,960. That would be thirty-six headmasters £2,160, thirty-six assistants £1,080, and thirty-six junior assistants £720. 39. Then there are the first assistants? —I have not worked out the cost for first assistants. because we have suggested no salary for them. We have simply asked that they be given an increase. 40. Have you no idea of what the increase would amount to I If you criticize a particular salary you must have some idea ? —The idea of the assistants, I believe, is that they should be given an amount equal to half the house allowance paid to the headmasters of schools in which they are engaged. 41. But there are no houses for them now ?—No. 42. It is simply another way of asking for an increase of salary ? —lt has been suggested, I believe, by the assistants that if they are married men they should receive house allowance equal to half the amount of the house- allowance given to headmasters. 43. That is in addition to salary ?—Yes. 44. Why do you distinguish between married men and unmarried men : is that an educational question or an economic question ?—lt looks like an economic question. 1 suppose the married men find it more difficult to live on the salaries than single men. 45. Do you know what the great mass of the public servants reach in the ordinary course of things \ —I have no figures with regard to that. 46. Is it anything more than £220 a year ?—Speaking from memory, the Civil Service Commissioners guarantee that a young man entering the Telegraph or Post Office Departments will reach £240 at the age of twenty-eight if he passes the Junior Civil Service Examination. 47. You are speaking of the Post Office, not the whole of the Public Service ?—I am not taking the whole of the Service. I could not give you the figures for that, but in the Government Insurance Department I do not think there is a clerk receiving less than £220 a year in a certain division. 48. Which division is that ?—Of course, there are junior clerks. lam speaking of the clerks with experience equal to the experience of a teacher. 49. Have you looked through the Classification List to see the salaries ?—Not the whole list. 50. With regard to the secondary departments, are not most of the District High Schools taking up in one form or another the rural course ? —I understand so. 51. Do you know- how much is paid per head per pupil who takes up the rural course, besides the salaries in the Act —do you know it is £5 10s. per head ? —I thought it was a little more. 52. You know that is in addition to the salaries ?—I was not aware of that. 53. You know that it may be paid to those teachers if they are doing the special rural work ?—No.