§ MR. NANNETTI (Dublin, College Green)I beg to ask the President of the Board of Education why it is that Irish teachers, having been trained for the prescribed two years course in a Dublin training college, and passed the revised examination, and received their Irish diploma, are recognised by the Board of Education in England simply as uncertificated teachers, and only receive the salary of untrained teachers, with no hope of future promotion, although no adverse report would have been received from the Irish Commissioners, while the training and examination for Irish teachers is the more difficult of the two, having a similar examination, but with additional subjects; and if the Code makes no distinction between trained and untrained teachers, how is it that a trained teacher receives £90 a year on leaving college, while the untrained teacher starts with £75 a year; and, if they are classed alike, why does this difference of £15 per year exist.
§ MR. TREVELYANThe hon. Member appears to be under a misapprehension. Teachers who have passed the revised examination after a course of training in an Irish training college, and have received a diploma from the Irish Commissioners of National Education are qualified for recognition as certificated teachers. The present Code makes no distinction between trained and untrained teachers, and no occasion has, therefore, arisen for the Board of Education to decide in which category these teachers should be placed, but I must not be taken as admitting the accuracy of the hon. Member's statement that the course of training and examination in Irish training colleges is more exacting than in English 678 colleges. A teacher's salary is determined by the local education authority by whom he is employed, and is not subject to control by the Board of Education.
§ MR. NANNETTIasked if certificated Irish teachers were not paid lower salaries than their English colleagues?
§ MR. TREVELYANI am not aware of that, but will inquire into any facts laid before me.