§ Sir E. Graham-Littleasked the President of the Board of Education whether he will consider framing regulations for qualifications of teachers in secondary and central schools following the example of the recognised public schools which insist upon their teachers possessing accredited university degrees; and whether he will limit secondary education to scholars who have gone through the primary stage so that no children begin their education in secondary schools and arrange that salaries paid to teachers shall depend on experience and qualifications and not on the social status of the school?
§ Mr. ButlerIt would be impracticable in present circumstances to prescribe minimum qualifications for teachers in secondary schools: in central schools the qualifications of teachers are prescribed in the code. The whole question of the recruitment and training of teachers is at present under consideration by a committee under the chairmanship of Dr. A. D. McNair. According to the latest returns 77 per cent. of the pupils in grant-aided secondary schools had previously been educated in public elementary schools; as at present advised I am not prepared to restrict admission solely to children of that type. In answer to the third part of the Question salaries of teachers in schools for which local education authorities are responsible are a matter in the first instance for the Burnham Committees whose present scales for secondary and public elementary schools respectively are variable according to experience and qualifications. The rate of salaries in independent schools is a matter for the discretion of the governors.