§ MR. D. A. THOMAS (Merthyr Tydvil)To ask the President of the Board of Education, whether the Aberdare education authority has power to require the female married teachers in its employ to resign in cases where such teachers were employed by the late school board of the district, and were taken over in September, 1903, by the Education Committee on their adoption of Part III of the Act of 1902; and how such dismissal will affect teachers who have annually contributed towards the superannuation fund attainable at the age of sixty-five, and particularly teachers who have not completed half the number of years of recorded service specified in the Act of 1898.
(Answered by Mr. McKenna.) Yes, Sir; teachers employed in council schools hold office during the pleasure of the local education authority (Section 35 of The Elementary Education Act, 1870) irrespective of whether they were appointed by that authority or by their predecessors, the school board. Teachers are entitled to the annuity purchasable by their contributions to the deferred annuity fund, even if they have not satisfied the conditions required for a superannuation allowance; those teachers whose length of service does not qualify them for a superannuation allowance on attaining the age of sixty-five will, if they desire to secure one, be under the necessity of obtaining posts elsewhere.