raise salaries to the English level if they are not to lose the pick of their younger teachers; and the authorities, already harassed with a shortage of teachers, must do something to even up Scot

tish salaries.

report that speaks with two voices. The Institute Executive, following on the consideration of this report, advised Mr. Emslie to resign, and promised its help in securing his reappointment in another school under the Ayrshire authority. On Mr. Emslie reThe deadlock in the negotiations would be most easily removed fusing to take this advice the Executive declined to have anything by the Institute withdrawing its demand for more to do with the case, and the Council confirmed its decision. The Special General the £250 to £500 scale; but, in spite of the That seems likely to be the final decision of the Institute. Meeting. fact that a good many teachers are in favour of James Colquhoun Irvine, C.B.E., Ph.D., D.Sc., Professor of that course, no one has ventured to propose it at any of the meetChemistry in the University of St. Andrews, ings held to consider the position. The Executive of the Institute The New Principal has just been appointed Principal of the Unirecommended that a special commission with of St Andrews an independent versity in succession to the late Sir John Herkchairman and constituted like the Burnham Committee should be University. less. Principal Irvine, who is a man of fortyasked for. The Council, a fortnight later, having had time for four, has been intimately associated with St. Andrews in the reflection, discovered that the procedure suggested by the Execucapacities of student, lecturer, professor, dean of the Faculty of tive was in conflict with the provision in the Act for the establish- Science, and assessor to the Court, but his original work in chemment of minimum national scales, and rejected this idea in favour istry, more especially the work done by him for the Government of a motion asking the Education Department to revise the scales, during the war, has given him a foremost place in the ranks of in view of the new Burnham scales. The special general meeting British men of science. With this new appointment, three out of of delegates, held in Edinburgh on December 18, had these and the four Scottish principals are men of science: a striking fact other recommendations before it, as well as a statement from the when one remembers that not so long ago it was almost a matter authorities' representatives on the Joint Council. The meeting reof course that the principal of a Scottish university should be a affirmed the figures of the annual general meeting, but expressed distinguished Churchman. itself willing to have its representatives respond to the authorities' overtures, without however committing itself in any way to making the Burnham figures a starting point in negotiations. There is considerable discontent in various parts of the country because of the failure of authorities to make Continuation adequate increases in the rates of payment for continuation work. In two areas so far apart as Ayrshire and Banff there have been strikes of all the teachers concerned, and there are rumours of trouble in particular centres elsewhere. Happily most of these disputes are easy to settle, but it would be much better for all parties if they could be prevented. The fault is undoubtedly with the low rates of payment for evening school service.

Schools Salaries.

Scheme.

Scottish teachers are, in the main, well pleased with their superannuation scheme, and recognize that, Amendment of the thanks to the generous response made to their Superannuation Mr. overtures by Munro and Sir John Struthers, it is superior at various points to the English scheme. Nevertheless, they would like one change made. Under the English scheme any teacher who has given thirty years' service can, if he wish, retire at any time thereafter with the right to pension and lump sum when he reaches the age of sixty. The Scottish teacher, on the other hand, can only receive his pension if he is in actual service on or after his sixtieth birthday. The case seems pretty clear for the substitution of this part of the English scheme for the corresponding part of the Scottish; but, as there is a section of teachers, believed to be few in number, who might be adversely affected by the change, a plebiscite is being taken on the matter.

A Pensions Case in the Court of Session.

Judgment has been given against the Educational Institute in a case promoted by it in the Court of Session on behalf of a retired head master. Ten days after the passing of the Education Act, the School Board of Mearns granted this head master a pension of £150 in supplement of his legal allowance of superannuation.

Salaries of
Secondary
Teachers.

IRELAND.

The year has ended with a chorus of rejoicing among the national teachers at the new scales of salaries which have been agreed to by the Treasury. The salaries are everywhere admitted to afford a reasonable satisfaction of their claims, and are in all respects comparable with those paid in England. The introduction of a supplementary estimate in the House of Commons followed promptly upon the settlement. Mr. Denis Henry, the Attorney-General, in explaining the figures, said that the immediate increase was £528,600, and was one-third of the total sum which would be required and which would be spread over three years. The debate which followed necessarily included the condition of the secondary teachers, which all the speakers considered to be appalling. The fact is that primary teachers will now be better off than secondary teachers, with regard to whom the Government seems unable to make up its mind. The present and future state of secondary education has been the leading topic at the Christmas prize distributions throughout the country, and the salaries of secondary teachers, when compared with those of primary teachers, was justly described by a leading head master as being not only a grievance but an absurdity. He said there were three possible alternatives: first, to pass the Education Bill, amending such points as have provoked difference of opinion; secondly, to pay to Irish secondary education its equivalent share of Treasury grants as laid down in the Bill; or thirdly, to draw up a scale of salaries for secondary teachers on the lines of the Burnham scales and the National Teachers' scale. Any one of these is a conceivable and logical policy. The Education Bill, by Mr. Bonar Law's dictum, has shared in the massacre of the innocents at the end of the session, so that the first alternative is gone. With regard to the second, its underlying principle was not considered when the national teachers' salaries were arranged. There remains the third, and it is on this that teachers are now concentrating their

attention. Subsequently the Superannuation Act of 1919 greatly increased the amounts paid to retired teachers, and with the £150 supplement this man would now have been receiving an income of £422 per annum, £47 more than he received as salary at the end of his teaching career, In view of the changed circumstances the Renfrewshire authority refused to pay the special allowance of £150, and they were upheld in their refusal by Lord Ashmore. As the decision affects other cases, the Institute has decided to appeal against the decision.

The Emslie
Case.

The extraordinary Emslie case still drags out its weary length. It seems now to be near its end, and most people hope it is. But who can say? The present trouble rose out of the complaint of the teachers of Spiers' School, Beith, to which Mr. Emslie was appointed rather over a year ago, after dismissal from Ayr Academy. The governors of the school inquired into the matter, dismissed Mr. Emslie, but recommended that the Ayrshire authority, to whom the school has been in course of being transferred for the past year, find a place for him in its service. The Ayrshire authority, evidently not sure whether Mr. Emslie is or is not their servant, also held an inquiry, and stated themselves willing to give him a post of some kind if he was prepared to put himself in their hands by resigning; then when he refused to resign, assumed that he was in their service, and dismissed him, or at any rate seem to have dismissed him. All this time the Educational Institute has had a committee of inquiry going into the case as between Mr. Emslie and his teachers, and has issued a

There are many difficulties in the way, but the Intermediate Board have taken the first step to produce a The Forthcoming Conference. solution. The new chairman, Sir Samuel Dill, is keenly interested in the matter, and under his lead the Commissioners are calling a conference, during the holidays, of representatives of heads of schools and assistant teachers "to consider the framing of a scheme of salaries and increments which might be put forward to the Treasury for increased grants." The conference, which will be representative of all sections of the secondary teachers, will at least focus attention on the most crying need of Irish education at the present time. One hears of school after school closing down or being faced with financial difficulties, and if nothing is done before the summer to remedy this need many more schools will have closed by the end of this year.

Intermediate

Board

Report.

The annual report which bears on this subject-viz. the Report of the Intermediate Education Board on the application of the Teachers' Salaries Grant, was published at the end of November. The total number of schools coming under the grant was 352, containing 24,599 pupils over twelve years of age. Of these schools 236 with 17,348 pupils are under Roman Catholic management, and 116 with 7,251 pupils under non-Roman Catholic management. In the Roman Catholic schools there are 299 duly qualified lay teachers, and in the non-Roman Catholic schools 356. (Continued on page 34.)

In addition, there are 202 nuns and 36 members of brotherhoods in Roman Catholic schools who claim to be lay teachers and to be duly qualified. In Roman Catholic schools there are 233 lay teachers who are not qualified, and in non-Roman Catholic schools 490 such teachers. A general survey of the return shows that £50,000 is spent in Roman Catholic schools among the qualified lay teachers, or an average of £172 per annum, and £55,000 in non-Roman Catholic schools among similar teachers, giving in their case an average of £183 per annum. It is more difficult to calculate the average salary of the unqualified teachers, as many of the names put down are teachers of special subjects, coming for two or three hours a week and so on, but the average salary of the fully occupied teachers of the non-qualified section would seem to be about 100. Even if the interim part of £50,000 be added to these salaries it will be seen that the average salary of an Irish teacher in a secondary school is well below the Burnham minimum in England. What wonder, then, if there is an exodus of Irish teachers, if England is winnowing the grain and Ireland is left with the chaff?

The Intermediate Board, as mentioned above, has elected Sir Samuel Dill as chairman; and two new memConstitution of the Board bers have been appointed. The new Protestant Archbishop of Dublin, Dr. Gregg, in place of his predecessor, Dr. D'Arcy, now Archbishop of Armagh and Primate of Ireland, and Prof. Magennis (of the National University), in place of Dr. Starkie.

The Intermediate Board has published its time-table of the

Examinations.

examinations for 1921. They will begin on Wednesday, June 15, and continue daily until Thursday, June 23. There is a different order of subjects this year, but only one change of note, which will give satisfaction to the schools, and this is that the time allowed for the arithmetic paper is extended from one and a half to two hours. If the Board will go one step further and set a more reasonable type of arithmetic paper, it will arouse still greater satisfaction. The Department of Agriculture and Technical Instruction announces that if there are candidates of sufficient Teacherships in Training. merit, five scholarships and five teacherships in training, tenable at the Royal College of Science, Dublin, will be offered for competition this year. A

scholarship or teachership entitles the holder to an allowance of £50 per annum, to free admission to the four-year associateship course at the college and to third-class railway fare for one journey each session to and from Dublin. The amount of the £50 allowance may be augmented in any case in which the Department sees fit by a bonus of not more than 50 per cent. Candidates awarded scholarships may adopt either the Faculty in Chemistry or the Faculty in Engineering, or one of the sections of the special group for science teachers. Candidates awarded teacherships in training must adopt one of the sections of the special group for science teachers. Candidates must be between sixteen and thirty years of age on June 1 and have been born in Ireland or lived there for three years immediately prior to the examination. There are qualifying subjects for the examination but the subjects for competition will be only mathematics and science. The examination will commence on June 27, and application for admission must be made before April 30.

Christmas
Lectures.

The Royal Dublin Society is giving during the Christmas holidays its annual series of six afternoon lectures suitable for children. The subjects of the lectures are (1) "The Chemistry of a Christmas Dinner," by Dr. W. R. Fearon; (2) "Possibilities of Life in Other Worlds," by Rev. W. F. A. Ellison; (3) "X-rays," by Prof. J J. Nolan; (4) "Some Problems of Bird Life," by C. B. Moffat; (5) “Thieves of the Plant World," by P. A. Murphy; and (6) “Primitive Man," by Mrs. M. C. Wright.

SCHOOLS.

MARY DATCHELOR GIRLS' SCHOOL, CAMBERWELL.-The production of the "Iphigenia in Tauris" of Euripides, on December 3, may or may not have been "strictly Greek" in every detail, but it was certainly a performance of high merit and above the average of schoolgirl dramatic work. Prof. Gilbert Murray's translation of the play was used with a few "cuts"; the scenery and the dresses were made in the school; even the music of the choruses and the dances were also home-made. The dancing of the chorus of ten girls was restricted to poses and movements, which had been copied from Greek vase-paintings, and were beautiful and (Continued on page 36.)

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