THE NON-GRADUATE TEACHER
Sut,—In your issue of December 5th you gave an article, The Teacher's Hire. I did not receive my copy until December 10th, and thus could not write to correct an error in the details. In your current issue the error appears, surprisingly, to have gone uncorrected. The basic salary of a qualified non-graduate teacher has not been raised by an extra £30 per annum throughout the scale. The minimum remains the same. The maximum has been increased from , £525 to £555. In any case the figures are only proposed, and are due to come into operation, if approved by the Minister, on April 1st, 1948. My authority for this is the Teachers' World and my own salary.
I would also like to challenge the statement of Mr. B. B. Causer in your issue of December 12th. The two-year trained teacher has been deprived of the very advantage he mentions in his last paragraph. Many graduates who for various reasons did not, obtain headships of grammar schools are now obtaining headships of modern schools. I can quote authorities whose policy it is to appoint only graduates to these posts. The move is made acceptable to the graduates themselves by the terms of the 1945 Burnham Scales which equated the salaries of the two types of school, other things being equal. Further, on what grounds does Mr. Causer base his statement that " he (the two-year trained teacher) was not capable of obtaining an honours degree at a university "? Quite a number have—externally, which is the hard way. Others could not put themselves to the test for financial reasons. At least they are trained teachers and not " drifted graduates."—Yours faithfully,
SAMUEL J. ROBERTS.
Dalvourn, St. Mary's Road, Lutterworth, rm. Rugby.
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