§ 70 Sir Ernest Graham-Littleasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education (1) for what reason teachers of physical education who have undergone a three-years training at a physical training college and have obtained the diploma of the London University in the theory and practice of physical education are not paid on a scale comparable with the graduate salaries paid to graduates of a university;
(2) whether, in view of the new importance which is being attached to physical training and fitness, he will arrange for the revision of the present system under which the salaries paid to teachers of physical education who have taken a 855 three years' full-time course and hold the highest qualification obtainable in this country, are substantially lower than the graduate salaries paid to teachers of academic subjects;
(3) whether his attention has been called to the grievance of the Assistant Mistresses' Association with regard to the non-graduate scale of salaries which is still paid to teachers of physical training in this country; and whether, in view of the desirability of attracting an adequate number of suitable candidates for the position of teachers of physical training and of the recent decision of the National Fitness Council to grant, the sum of £200,000 to the universities in this connection, he will arrange for this matter to be reconsidered at the earliest opportunity?
§ The Parliamentary Secretary to the Board of Education (Mr. Kenneth Lindsay)My Noble Friend is aware of the salary scales paid to teachers of physical education though his attention has not been called to the matter specifically as a grievance of the Association referred to. The salary scales of teachers are regulated by the Burnham Committees consisting of the employing authorities and the teachers acting through members appointed by their respective associations. Any question of modifying them in respect of teachers of physical education is a matter, in the first instance, for the appropriate Burnham Committees. The Burnham Secondary and Technical Committees gave full consideration to this question last year but, since it is not their practice to publish reasons for their decisions, I am not in a position to specify the grounds on which they were unable to accept a three years' course of training at a physical training college, together with the diploma of the London University in physical training, as entitling a teacher to be paid on the graduate scale.
§ Sir Arnold WilsonIs my hon. Friend aware that the country is asking not for more university professors, but for more usable playgrounds?
§ Mr. LindsayMy hon. Friend will be glad to know that they are coming along fast.
§ Mr. MacquistenIs my hon. Friend aware that teachers of physical training 856 use up more bodily energy and require more food and should, therefore, be better paid?