THE POSITION OF ASSISTANT-MASTERS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS. [To ism EDITOR
OF TES " SPECTATOR.") 5ui,—The claim to consideration made by "An Assistant-Master in a Smaller Public School " on behalf of his colleagues is a just and
imperative claim, but it should be extended to Assistant-Masters in the greater Public Schools. The British public appears quite unaware of the fact that, apart from Head-Masters and House- Masters, the financial position of other officials in practically all the greater Public Schools is miserable. It is a matter of urgency that these schools should set their houses in order; unlike the smaller Public Schools, they have the means to do so. A reorgan- ization and rearrangement of present funds would go a long way to redress the present glaring inequalities. The Head-Master is the "profiteer " of the greater Public School world. His income. which varies from 43,500 to £10,000 per year according to the school, is generally obtained from three different sources: (a) a fixed salary; (b) a considerable capitation fee on each pupil; (c) a boarding-house in which he is allowed to board double the number of boys his House-Masters may entertain. If an ordinary House- Master can only look after forty boys efficiently, what special capacities does a Head-jdastership bestow that it enables a Head- Master to do a superman's work? Head-Masters have poets involv- ing very great responsibilities and deserve high salaries, but it is farcical to suppose that they require emoluments higher than we bestow on the Prime Minister. Money saved from a diminution of these swollen salaries and from a more businesslike method of general administration would enable non-House-Masters to be paid a living wage without calling in the aid of the State. The ever-increasing length of Public School holidays is due to the fact that it is a direct pecuniary advantage to House-Masters and Head-Masters to extend the holidays. In very few schools are the non-House-Masters consulted in a matter of this kind.—I am, Sir,
[Of course Assistant-Masters deserve very much higher pay. But the longer holidays in the last two or three years have been due partly to railway restrictions and partly to serious epidemics. —En. Spectator.]
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