The slight increase since 1876 of $39 in the annual salary paid teachers does not adequately represent the enhanced value of the teacher's services, nor the capital which he is obliged by law to invest in his profession before he can claim any of its privileges. Let me briefly point out what these are: (1) From the advanced course of study prescribed even for third class certificates, attendance at a High school is all but indispensable, and for many reasons it is desirable that it should be. There is much to be gained by bringing the young candidate for the profession into contact with the cultured minds engaged in High School work. Their University attainments and superior training, as well as the stimulus to be derived from association with many others having similar aspirations, tend to the greater development of mind and character. But all this means the expenditure of money. It is an investment of both capital and labor for which there should be some adequate return. (2) After the candidate has reached the non-professional standard required by the Education Department, he is obliged to attend a County Model School for three months to receive his professional training. This also requires time and money. (3) In addition there is the necessary outfit of text books, the payment of fees at the High School, and the Model School-for all this, the only quid pro quo allowed by those in whose interest this expenditure has been incurred is the small sum of $39 per annum of advance in salary. This is certainly no equivalent. If the law imposes burdens upon the teacher to fit him for serving the public better, surely it is but fair that he should receive an adequate return, in the form of increased remuneration. The exact qualification whereby better value should be given certainly involves corresponding returns for value received. Another feature worthy of notice is the disparity between the salaries of men and women. When women are employed in graded schools, with only a limited responsibility regarding discipline, organization, etc., there may be some justification for the payment of lower salaries, but when as in many cases, they have all the responsibilities of a Principal, is it just that their services should be undervalued? To this it may be answered that in other occupations similar disparity prevails. Not so, however. In other occupations the wages paid are based upon the value of the work done. The women's work is as valuable as the man's work, at least within the limits previously stated. The child's mind may up to a certain point be as quickly and as symmetrically developed by one as by the other. The result to the public in both cases is the same. Why should it not be the same to the teacher? There are now 5,454 school houses in the Province, of which 5437 were open in 1886, distributed as follows: 5,060 in rural districts, 207 in towns, and 170 in cities. The log school house is fast disappearing, there being only 607 in 1886, as against 1,466 in 1850. In the same period, brick school houses have increased from 99 to 1,976. 5,316 school houses are freehold and 138 rented. The number of maps now used amounts to, 40,663. In 1850 there were only 1,814. The expenditure on apparatus and prizes in the last eleven years amounted to $317,514, and the expenditure on school buildings to $4,140,029. Log. Schools using Maps. Total No. of Maps. No. of legal teaching days open. YEAR. RECEIPTS. 5.-RECEIPTS AND EXPENDiture. The following Table shows the receipts and expenditure from 1876 to 1886 : EXPENDITURE. The expenditure for school purposes amounted in 1885 to 34 per cent. of all the taxes collected upon the assessable property of the province. The ratio of increase for Public Schools has not been so great, however, as for ordinary municipal purposes. For the former the increase in four years was only 14 per cent. ; for the latter it was 17 per cent. Notwithstanding the large expenditure for school sites and buildings and the large increase to the teaching staff of the country, the cost per pupil has very slightly increased in eleven years. In 1886 it was 8 cents per pupil more than in 1885. The average cost per pupil on the number enrolled in 1886, for counties was $6.69; for cities, $9.23; and for towns, $7.34, or an average of $7.09 for the province. In 1877 the average cost was, for counties, $6.01; for cities, $7.52; for towns, $6.51, or an average of $6.26 for the province. As this estimate includes the expenditure on buildings, sites and equipment (items which necessarily fluctuate), it would be more accurate, in order to ascertain whether our schools are becoming more expensive, to make teachers' salaries the test. On this basis we have the following results :— Cost per pupil on the basis of teachers' salaries, 1877, for counties, $3.13; for cities, $3.40; for towns $3.16. Cost per pupil on the basis of teachers' salaries, 1886, for counties, $3.13; for cities, $3.81; for towns, $3.43; that is, the cost per pupil is the same for rural districts as it was ten years ago. The cost per pupil in the different provinces of the Dominion for 1886 was as follows: 6. ROMAN CATHOLIC SEPARATE SCHOOLS.-Progress since 1876. SCHOOLS-EXPENDITURE TEACHERS. NUMBER OF PUPILS-STUDIES. From these tables it will be seen that while the number of Separate Schools has increased 57 in eleven years, the expenditure increased $78,237, and the number of teachers YEAR. 159 during the same period. The number of pupils in the various subjects of the school programme has also proportionately increased. From the reports of the Inspectors which appear elsewhere it will be seen that the Separate Schools are steadily prospering, and that, both as regards teachers and pupils, they are becoming more efficient every year. II. HIGH SCHOOLS. (Including Collegiate Institutes.) 1.-RECEIPTS, EXPENDITURE, ATTENDANCE, ETC. The following Tables respecting High Schools will be found suggestive : $ 20122 321132 $ 195906 $ $ 46216 304948 51417 343710 83969 396010 54275 400788 66416 413930 23703 345850 19361 343720 20012 348946 34013 385426 50865 429762 63248 477797 $ c. |