§ MR. WHITWELLasked the Vice President of the Committee of Council on Education, If he is prepared to announce the terms of the Order in Council under which the arrangement for granting superannuation allowances to teachers appear?
§ VISCOUNT SANDONSir, I shall be happy to inform my hon. Friend who has taken so warm and useful an in- 1578 terest in this matter what are the slight modifications which we have made in the Pension Minute which I propose to lay on the Table this afternoon. In the former Minute it was laid down that pensions should only be granted to teachers whose income during the last seven years had not exceeded £120 per annum (men), or £60 (women). We have now omitted the condition as to income, as we think it best to follow closely the conditions of the Minute of 1851, whereby the late Lord Lansdowne, as Lord President, interpreted his own former Pension Minute of 1846, and also as it is clear that both this House—judging from the debate on the Education Estimates—and the teachers themselves are very anxious that the Department should not hamper its own action by laying down a hard-and-fast line as to salaries. The cases, therefore, will be judged simply on their own merits, preference being of course given to those in greatest need of assistance. We have also removed all uncertainty as to the eligibility for these pensions of certified teachers of normal schools, and also of assistant teachers. I am glad to believe that this question, about which the teachers have naturally felt very strongly for many years, will now be settled to the satisfaction of the teachers and with the cordial approval of both sides of the House.