20 MAY 1922, Page 3

The Government were defeated in the House of Commons on

Tuesday, when Mr. Fisher moved the second reading of the School Teachers' Superannuation Bill, requiring teachers to contribute 5 per cent. of their salaries to the pension fund in accordance with the proposal of the Geddes Committee. Mr. Fisher pointed out that since the teachers were given non- contributory pensions in 1918 their salaries had been doubled, if not trebled. He thought, therefore, that the pension scheme might be reviewed. The teachers were asked to contribute £2,300,000 a year, but the ultimate cost of the pensions would be £9,500,000 a year. He offered to limit the operation of the Bill to the next two years, as the Burnham scale of salaries would come up for revision in 1925.