CO129-574-1 Salaries and promotion prospects of women graduate teachers 5-8-1938 - 27-9-1938 — Page 17

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In Hong Kong, in spite of the fact that there are fifty women teachers

in the Education Department, no possibility is held out under the present system

that any one of these may be selected for a position of authority apart from the

Headship of one Secondary and three Kindergarten Schools. There is a considerable

number of Grant-in Aid and Subsidised Schools in the Colony which provide for the

education of girls, and we would humbly submit that a woman Inspector could not

only be fully and usefully occupied in the Supervision of these as well as of the

Government Girls' Schools, but also could efficiently carry out the routine duties

(the) of an Inspector in the work of the Education Office. We believe also that, while

it would be derogatory to her position to consider the woman Inspector purely as

a partisan of the views of the women members of the Department, her presence in

the Education Office would be valuable in maintaining close accord between the

administrative officers and the Training Staffs.

It is not to be expected that a woman graduate would be able to pass

judgment with the complete competence born of practical and personal experience,

upon modern Kindergarten methods in Hong Kong Schools, but we would venture to

point out that this applies to the male Inspectors also, and doubtless a woman

Inspector, if appointed, would welcome an opportunity to study modern Kindergarten

methods in England preparatory to taking up her duties.

As regards the salary of a woman Inspector, we would respectfully suggest

that, since the Salaries Commission of 1929, in dealing with the whole question of

women's salaries, rejected the principle of "equal pay for equal work" with the

men teachers, the salary provided for a woman Inspector might be at least as nearly

proportionate to that of the male Inspector as in the case quoted above of the maximum salaries of Chief Inspectors (male and female) in England, i.e. four-fifths. (Your Excellency) 3. We wish further to beg that you will consider the position of the

women graduate teachers in the Education Department in regard to the Headship of

schools.

At present there are only five Government Schools in the Colony where

education is provided for girls; in one of these five, namely the Central

British School in Kowloon, the school provides secondary education for boys as