SHORTENING SCHOOL PERIOD

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21966, 15 December 1936, Page 16

SHORTENING SCHOOL PERIOD

EFFECT OF INDUSTRIAL LEGISLATION MINISTER INDICATES CONCERN “If any industrial legislation compels employers to take boys away from school at an early age, then something must be done to meet the difficulty,-' said the Hon. P. Fraser (Minister for Education), in a statement in Wellington at the prize-giving of St. Patrick s College. , , The Minister’s remark was prompted by the address of the rector of the college, the Very Rev. Father A. Lysaght, S.M., who said that to an employer who intended permanency for his employees a sound general education of the employees was essential. An employer could not afford to pay high wages for slipshod and indifferent work because an employee lacked the foundation of a good general education. The Minister said that it would be disastrous if a Government in an endeavour to raise the standard, found that its legislation was doing the opposite to what was intended. Schools were not intended to provide cheap labour, and steps must be taken to see that they did not do so. Children should remain at school to get the full benefit of the educational facilities placed at their disposal. - 4C - -