Mr. Astorasked the President of the Board of Education whether his attention has been drawn to the recently published scheme of extended physical education drawn up by the Middlesex County Council and' the fact that there is a large discrepancy of pay as between the male and female organisers; and whether this is an indication that a smaller amount of grant will be made by the Government for the physical development of girls and women than for similar schemes for the benefit of boys and men, and that such unequal scales of pay will be the general rule under the scheme?
Mr. StanleyThe Middlesex Education Authority have recently submitted a proposal for organisers of physical training for the whole county including the local education authorities for elementary education. The scales of salary proposed are:
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- Men—£450 by £25 to £600.
- Women—£400 by £20 to £500.
The salaries paid by local education authorities to their organisers are primarily a matter for the authorities themselves. It has long been the general practice throughout the country, as in the case of teachers' salaries, to fix higher salaries for men organisers than for women. The maximum of the salary scales proposed by the Middlesex Education Authority for men and women organisers corresponds with the minimum salaries prescribed for headmasters and headmistresses respectively of secondary schools. The board's 50 per cent. grant to local education authorities in respect of salaries of organisers is paid as part of the existing grants in aid of their expenditure and forms no part of the payments which will be made under the Government's recent proposals for the development of physical training and recreation.