HC Deb 01 August 1912 vol 41 cc2267-8W
Mr. C. BATHURST

asked the President of the Board of Education whether, under the Elementary School Teachers (Superannuation) Bill, women teachers will be unable upon voluntary retirement after fifty-five to receive their promised pension of £1 per year for each year of recorded service for as many years as they have served as teachers, or whether such pension will only be obtainable at sixty-five; and whether he realises that the efficiency of a school is likely to be adversely affected by the non-retirement until the age of sixty-five for the sake of their pensions of teachers who are partially incapacitated or anxious to retire before that age?

Mr. J. A. PEASE

The Bill does not provide for retirement at an age earlier than sixty-five. I have asked the Departmental Committee which I have appointed to inquire whether the funds at my disposal will enable any arrangement for earlier retirement to be made and whether such an arrangement will be preferable to other forms of benefit which have been suggested. I am fully aware of the educational considerations involved.