§ 53. Sir W. DAVISONasked the President of the Board of Education why a teacher who is employed in a grant-aided school is precluded from counting, for the purpose of superannuation, previous service in one of the great public schools such as Winchester, Eton, Charterhouse, etc?
§ Mr. FISHERThe general purpose of the School Teachers (Superannuation) Act, 1918, was to provide for the superannuation of teachers in respect of their service in schools aided by the Board's grant. Past service in other schools which are unable out of their own resources to maintain a satisfactory pensions scheme is pensionable in certain cases within the conditions of Section 18 (vii) of the Act and the relevant Rule (No. 23) of the School Teachers (Superannuation) Rules, 1919.
§ Sir W. DAVISONDoes not the right hon. Gentleman realise the hardship to the teacher who has been, say, five years in a school such as Winchester, and then goes to a grant-aided school and gets no pension whatever for the period during which he was a teacher at Winchester?
§ Mr. FISHERI think that is a repetition of the question. The service in such a school as Winchester would count as qualifying service within the terms of the Teachers (Superannuation) Act, 1918, but it is perfectly true that a teacher in such a school—Winchester being one of the schools which are able to provide a pension scheme out of their own resources—would not be able to count his years of service in that school for pension.
§ Sir W. DAVISONDoes not the right hon. Gentleman recognise that the authorities of Winchester or similar schools do 18 not provide pensions for teachers once they have left the school, and that, therefore, the teacher is entirely unpensioned for that particular period?
§ Mr. FISHERI am aware of that.