1 DECEMBER 1944, Page 13

TEACHERS' SALARIES

SIR,—Mr. Brooke's letter on the proposed Burnham Scale of teachers' salaries is misleading. In the first place he states that specialist teachers are to be- paid on the same .scale as non-specialist, without mentioning the extra increments for additional qualifications which are proposed. Secondly,' it is not correct that the future primary school teachers will he trained only for " a few months " and that it will be possible for almost anyone to qualify " with the utmost ease." No course will be for less than 12 months ; and for the young and inexperienced will probably be con- siderably longer ; and it has been laid down by the McNair Committee that at every stage of these courses students who do not appear suitable will be given the opportunity to withdraw.

"Quantity " is certainly the immediate objective: how else can the present excessively large classes in the schools be reduced to the more reasonable proportions obtaining in those privileged ones where "advanced teaching" is dispensed by people of. Mr. Brooke's calibre? What Mr. Brooke must realise is that the qualifications he is fortunate to have had the opportunity of acquiring cannot yet be demanded of all teachers: nor is it necessary that they should. What is required is teaching ability—which no degree can guarantee—together with sincerity and a mind alive to its own needs. If " Katie " possesses these qualifi- cations the State will be justified in training her and employing her at a salary that will enable her to supply these needs. As one of many graduates with specialist qualifications teaching in elementary schools before the war, I agree with Mr. Brooke that under the proposed scale the well qualified specialist teacher may be com- paratively worse off. But the new scale will help to achieve two essentials: provide the number of teachers vital to the improvement of our national education ; and, by attracting men and women from a wider field, permit of a selection in which the background and love of knowledge rightly emphasised by Mr. Brooke may be demanded to the elevation of the

teaching profession as a whole.--Yours faithfully, E. B. GEORGE. Hurts Hall, Samundham, Suffolk.