The Press TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1965. School-Leaving Age

Press, Volume CIV, Issue 30927, 7 December 1965, Page 16

The Press TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1965. School-Leaving Age

Raising the school-leaving age to 16 “as soon as “ practicable ”, as recommended by the Commission of Inquiry into Vocational Training, might not be the best way of securing fuller general education. The commission was apparently concerned because pupils, particularly those undertaking technical education, tend to specialise too early, to leave school too early, and to get inadequate training in broader mental disciplines. This problem is widely recognised; and many apprenticeships tackle it by allowing substantial reductions in training time if an apprentice has Schoo) Certificate or higher qualifications. Many other callings offer higher starting wages for higher educational attainments.

Such inducements as these seem to have been effective; and it might be better to increase the incentives for the young to stay at school than to raise the school-leaving age arbitrarily. The commission admits that the education system is not organised to cope with the change. The supply of secondary teachers, particularly of such subjects as mathematics, science, and others the commission regards as important, is still inadequate; a considerable increase in school building would be needed at a time when the universities have a Justifiable priority; the number of young people kept at school against their will, already an embarrassment by their irregular attendance and poor work, would be greatly increased.

Recent reports show that more pupils than ever before are staying at school in the sixth forms, that vocational guidance services have unprecedented demands for their advice, and that most young people appreciate the value, financially and in human satisfaction, of the highest qualifications of which they are capable. It is not too much to expect that these trends will grow: and that the pupils about whom the commission is now concerned are a small and , diminishing number.