I move:—
That the Secondary Teachers' Superannuation (Amendment) Scheme, 1956, made by the Minister for Education, with the consent of the Minister for Finance, be confirmed.
Briefly, the position is that the pension scheme for secondary teachers was first introduced in 1929. In 1951, certain retiral, disablement and marriage grants were added to the scheme and certain minor changes have taken place in the meantime. From time to time, but particularly since 1951, there have been representations to give teachers who are not in the scheme or who, while in the scheme, have not covered themselves under the scheme for the whole of their term of office, an opportunity of getting into the scheme. At conciliation level it has recently been arranged that this amendment will be introduced so that persons not in the scheme at present will have a six-months' period to come into it and people who are in the scheme at present but who have not been covered back to the earliest days of their teaching period, not further back than 1929, will have an opportunity of coming into it.
There are one or two minor matters added. Where persons in the past, who had a ten years' breach in their teaching service, wanted to come back into the scheme, they could come back but they could not get in at the earliest period of their teaching period. They are now being given an opportunity of covering up that breach. The scheme as it stands at present will still continue. In future, when persons leave secondary teaching for a period of longer than ten years, they will not be able to bring their earlier teaching period into the scheme.
It will be recalled that, in certain circumstances, people who taught in reformatory and industrial schools were able, when the schools became recognised as ordinary national schools, to bring their period of teaching in the industrial schools into their pensionable service under the national teachers' scheme. Now it is proposed that secondary teachers, who were formerly national teachers and had service in industrial schools, can, under certain arrangements, and by paying back suitable payments from a particular date, be regarded as pensionable under the terms of this scheme. As the salary upon which the superannuation payments are assessed consists of the basic salary, that is the school salary on the one hand and the incremental salary on the other, and as there was a difference between the minimum basic salary for men and for women, it has now been arranged that the basic salary for both men and women will be regarded as recognisable at £200. Under the scheme, the contribution is made partly by the school, on the basis of the basic salary, and partly by the teacher. Hitherto the contribution made by the school has been at the rate of 2½ per cent. in connection with the general scheme. Under the Order it has been made at a rate of 5 per cent.