§ Mr. GERALD HURSTasked the President of the Board of Education whether he is aware that in August, 1921, a number of ex-service men and women were appointed as teachers in the Manchester day continuation schools upon an assurance, based on Section 14 (iii) of the Joint Committee's Report, that service with the forces of the Crown during the War was to be accepted for the purpose of computing salaries; that such teachers were notified on the 16th November, 1922, that the Board had repudiated its undertaking to accept war service for such purpose while, on the other hand, still accepting commercial work up to five years as equivalent to teaching experience; that the Manchester Education Committee is thus disabled from fulfilling its pledge; and if he will reconsider this question?
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Mr. WOODI do not know what assurance, if any, was given to the men and women in question by the local education authority. The position of the Board as regards counting the war service of men graduates employed in secondary and technical, etc., schools for the calculation of salary under the Burnham Scales was defined by Circular 1244 of the 20th January, 1922, of which I am sending the hon. Member a copy. That circular does not enable the war service of non-graduate men or of women to be counted in such schools, and I have no authority to go beyond the terms of the Circular. The Board have left the local education authorities a discretion to count time spent in industry for the calculation of salary, on the general ground that for certain teaching work experience of this kind is an additional and specific qualification.