SERIOUS EFFECT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 271, 14 November 1936, Page 10

SERIOUS EFFECT.

SCHOOL-LEAVING AGE.

FAR TOO EARLY A STAGE,

PUPILS HALF EDUCATED

Headmasters of secondary schools in Auckland view with deep concern the large numbers of boys who are lea\ ing school at a disproportionately early age to take positions. Their main anxiety : arises from the fact that those who leave school for the wider world at such an age have not the education which will fit them for the future responsibilities of citizenship, and they believe that the country will suffer because "the child is the father of the mail. A supplementary cause for concern is that the roll numbers at some of the secondary schools are falling seriously. This position apparently is not confined to Auckland, as the statement, reported in the "Star" yesterday, made bv Mr. J. X- Millard, principal of the Hutt Yallev High School, shows. Mr. Millard said that it was impossible to find pupils to fill jobs offering. He added that he had received many requests from employers for both boys and girls, and that there had been already such an exodus of pupils that there was a need of a big enrolment of new pupils if the school roll was to be maintained. "I can agree with everything that Mr. Millard lias said," commented Mr. F. W. Gamble, headmaster of the Mount Albert Grammar School. "I have been losing boys of 14 to l(i years old steadily ever since Parliament sat." He had taken out figures for the year, February to December. Up to September this year he had lost more boys than in any one previous . whole year and more had left school since that month. Only yesterday lie had received requests for lads from 15 employers and three more requests had come this morning. Of the 15, he would be able to supply only three. Employers, too, were beginning to offer "fascinating" wages. For work which a little while ago would have been worth only 12/0 a week, 27/0 was now being offered. ' Half-educated Boys. Mr. Gamble regarded the position as serious. "We are turning out into the world boys who are only half educated. Qualified or not, they are leaving school to take positions. We will reap the harvest in a few years. I do not believe that the Government has realised the effect its legislation is having. In one breath they are inviting boys to go out into a larger life with only a smattering of education, and in the next they are contemplating raising the school age to 15 years:" On the other hand, older boys of the better type were receiving consideration, despite the preference of employers for younger boys, but older boys of only an average capability were being shut out. Opportunity was passing them by. "One of the most important and serious features of the whole thing, however," Mr. Gamble added, "is the feeling of unrest that is being engendered among' boys. One boy in a form I whose members normally would be returning next year gets a job. Immediately all the others begin to feel that they should be getting one, too. I have never experienced this, even in the depression, when jobs, instead of being easy to secure, were almost impossible. I regard this as terribly serious." Position at Takapuna. Mr. K. J. Dellow, headmaster of the Takapuna Grammar School, echoed this opinion. He said that he had lost 30 more boys this year than in the same period last year. He had heard from employers that they could not get girls for the junior positions offering; but he had not had the same experience with the girls as with the boys. (There are girls as well as boys at Takapuna.) There was a definite feeling among employers, 1 even in. the professions, that they wanted boys under 16 years, of age. In his opinion it was desirable that a boy of the average intelligence should stay at school until ho was 17 or 18 years of age. At present boys were leaving without any educational qualifications whatever. The age of 10 should be the lowest for a lad entering the professions. More than that, the postmatriculation year was worth more than all the others - put together. A bare free place education, even with evening classes, would not lead a lad very far. One of the most upsetting features, Mr. Dellow added, was that in some cases parents were allowing children to decide for themselves when they were to leave school, and that had occurred even in cases where it was not essential for a boy to earn his living so early. At the same time, he added, older boys were not being left out entirely. Positions were offering for them as well.

Not so Serious at A.G.S. Because of a large iiumber of fifth form boys, the position at the Auckland Grammar School had not been so bad as might have been expected, said Mr. C. M. Littlejolin, headmaster. Boys in those forms, he said, were waiting to complete their matriculation. The numbers leaving had been_ most marked in the middle school, that is, the fourth form, where the ages of boys -lay generally between 14 and 16 years. The fact that those lads were leaving was serious because of the fact that they had only a mere outline of education. In the implications of this he fully agreed with both Mr. Dellow and Mr. Gamble. The Government, he said, was genuinely interested in education. He did not think it had foreseen the results of its basic wage legislation. It was a serious thing for boys who were staying at school in order to complete examinations. It was hard to forecast roll numbers for next year, but' he was sure they would be reduced, and that anticipation was shared by headmasters throughout New Zealand. Lower roll numbers was serious for the masters as well, because schools were staffed oil their roll numbers, and a marked fall would mean that a smaller staff was necessary. Though his school was not affected to nearly the same degree, said Mr. J. P. Wells, headmaster of the Kowhai Intermediate School, because pupils attended there only up to the stage which corresponded to the first year at a secondary school, yet as an educationist he was perturbed. It was a serious thing for boys and girls to leave school early, and it would be a serious thing for the ; country. I ! All the principals agreed that the Government legislation was not the only : cause of pupils leaving school at an earlier age. The passing of the depression, with the consequental greater demand for, labour, was an important factor; recent legislation had aggravated the position. Li rom Sydney on Monday morning, j the Awatea is bringing 40 bags of mail for Auckland, including air mail which i left London on November 2. I