TEACHERS' SALARIES
Stn,—The revised scale of teachers' salaries is an interesting indication of the new educational policy in England. Specialist teachers with a university degree and experience in advanced teaching for university entrance and other examinations are to be paid on the same scale as non-specialist elementary school teachers, the latter being qualified by a concentrated course of some months' duration in the immediate post- war period. In a radio talk the other day, one "Katie," a factory worker of 19, was told that it was perfectly easy for her to become a teacher. All she had to do was to apply to the Labour Exchange. After a short training course she would qualify for the basic salary (£27o on the revised Burnham Scale).
As a specialist teacher of History, preparing young' people for various advanced examinations, my salary on the non-revised Burnham Scale is Lao resident. My qualifications include an Oxford degree in History, a Cambridge " first " in two Other subjects, a knowledge of some languages and many years of intensive study. Without such a varied background I should feel myself quite unqualified to teach advanced pupils about their own culture and civilisation. The new Burnham Scale shows no recognition of the fact that prolonged and strenuous mental effort is a thing to be encouraged in those entering the teaching profession. " Katie" the factory worker was told that she could qualify with the utmost ease. Presumably we may hear next that she will be able to qualify as a doctor by applying to the Labour Exchange and doing a " shortened" two years' course at a Government training centre.
If there had been any desire to raise the quality as well as the quantity of English education a very different attitude would have manifested itself. It now remains for those who care about quality to work on without official recognition—a thing they will continue to do as long as the love of scholarship remains alive in the human heart.—Yours faithfully,
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