BASIC WAGE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 294, 11 December 1936, Page 3

BASIC WAGE.

AGE FOR OPERATION.

EFFECT UPON SCHOOLS. HEADMASTER'S VIEWS. The recent legislation fixing the age for the operation of the basic wage at 21 years is likely to have a very serious effect upon school attendances in 193/. This opinion was expressed by Mr. C. M. Littlejohn, headmaster of the Auckland Boys' Grammar School, in his report covering the year's activities at the annual prize-giving ceremony of the school to-day. Mr. Littlejohn said that trades and industries were now seeking the services of juniors at a very early age, many asking for boys of 15 years. A boy leaving secondary school at 15 years was very imperfectly educated, said Mr. Littlejohn. He had, generally speaking, reached no definite academic standard, and the lack of a broad cultural education must be seriously felt by him in later life, when executive positions requiring a sound educational background were within his compass. The operation of the basic wage at a later a"e, say. 23 years, would enable boys to complete their secondary schooling and be available to employers with a considerably improved equipment than they offered under present conditions. It seemed that while opportunities for higher education were being widened so that all who wished might avail themselves of the privilege, the economic situation was operating in the reverse direction. So far the roll of the school had not suffered unduly, the. headmaster said, largely because the fifth form boys were anxious to have some examination success to present to prospective employers, but with the decline in the birth rate and the prevailing tendency to enlist boys in employment at an early age, it appeared certain that the school roll in 1937 would lie materially reduced. He urged upon parents the advisability of examining carefully the future prospects of any position available for their sons before terminating their secondary school education at too early an age.