Common Stand Against School-Leavers ’ “Dole ”

Press, Volume CVII, Issue 31542, 2 December 1967, Page 42

Common Stand Against School-Leavers ’ “Dole ”

(New Zealand Frees Association)

AUCKLAND, December 1.

Representatives of employers and labour are taking a common stand against the Government’s decision to pay unemployed 16-year-olds $925 a week.

The Auckland Provincial Employers’ Association president (Mr E. P. Salmon) and the president of the Federation of Labour (Mr T. E. Skinner) have already voiced their concern and disapproval.

Dole for jobless school-leavers will be discussed at the meeting of the Employers’ Association executive on Tuesday. The subject will also be on the agenda for the meeting of the F.O.L. national executive, to be held on December 12.

Headmasters are also expected to launch an attack against the dole plan next week.

Several headmasters said today they would advise boys to stay at school another year rather than accept the dole.

At a meeting of the local bodies’ association, Mr A. K. Corban said it seemed a waste of money to pay benefits to people when local bodies could give many of them jobs. The association will write to the Prime Minister (Mr Holyoake) urging that work should be found for jobless youths.

The council of the ParentTeacher Federation has urged parents to send their children back to school for a further year’s study rather than accept temporary, seasonal or dead-end jobs or go on unemployment relief. Mr N. Hayes, president of the council, today called for an emergency training scheme to provide extra teachers to staff secondary schools.

Builders’ Scheme The manager of the Auckland Master Builders’ Association (Mr G. F. Knowles) said he was sure his association would co-operate on a scheme for subsidised apprenticeships. He thought it was basically wrong to give dole to school leavers. A subsidy for employers taking on apprentices seemed sound.

Apprehension is growing in Auckland that paying dole to jobless school leavers could create a permanent class of layabouts. Employers, teachers and parents are saying almost as one: ‘lt’s folly to think of giving 16-year-olds something for nothing.”

Sir William Stevenson, sportsman and philanthropist, has expressed concern at the situation and has offered his backing for any trade-training scheme which might be introduced.

U.K. Example The principal of the Auckland Technical Institute (Mr R. A. Keir) suggested yesterday that the Government should establish industrial training centres similar to the

42 which have been set up in Britain. Sir William Stevenson said that if the Government rushed ahead with its dole plan it could produce a permanent pool of unemployed.

“The offer has been made too soon,” he said, “before they are really hurt and before they have even left school.

“The subsidised apprenticeship scheme will have to come back, as well as some sort of training scheme. “I would be only too willing to help with equipment and instructors and I think it would do the country a lot of good. “We have to train these boys to take responsibility

and get into a trade instead of getting easy money. It’s very bad that they should get something for nothing.”

U.S. System

Mr Keir said he knew of no system of unemployment pay for young people which did not include some proviso that the recipient should continue training until he could find work.

“In a lot of countries plans have had to be made to cope with the problem of school

leavers who can’t find suitable occupations,” he said. “In the United States (Mr Keir was there last year) many states have a scheme which provides sustenance for adolescents who can’t find work. But in all cases that I know of they are required to attend some sort of training establishment.” Canada had a similar scheme; and in Britain the Labour Department ran industrial training centres where people were taught and received a small sustenance allowance.

"The problem in New Zealand can be partly met by extending the one-year fulltime courses already provided in the technical institutes to give pre-entry training between school and work,” said Mr Keir.

‘Any Training’ Such a programme would be sensible only if there was some sort of guarantee that trainees would be taken into suitable occupations.

The council of the Auckland Manufacturers’ Association will meet soon to discuss the problem and it is likely that industrialists will offer assistance for any training schemes established.

Mr Keir’s proposals were matched by two former superintendents of rehabilitation in Auckland, Mr M. Simmonds and Mr K. W. Davies. Both said yesterday that any sort of training would be better than allowing young people to collect pay while remaining idle. Two systems of trade training, similar, to those used to rehabilitate returned servicemen in the 19405, have been suggested as alternatives to the unemployment benefit plan announced by the Minister of Social Security (Mr McKay) on Tuesday.

Subsidy Paid After the Second World War trade training was offered in two forms to returned servicemen—many of whom had gone to war in their teens before starting a career.

Full-time courses were provided in Government training centres or at technical colleges. There was also “on-the-job” training under which a man was placed with a private employer who was paid a subsidy on the wages of the trainee.

Trainees were required to stay for at least three years in the industry for which they were trained. Hamilton secondary school principals said today that toe Government’s decision to pay unemployment benefits to jobless students was unwarranted at this stage.

Most considered that students had not found it difficult to find jobs at the present time and considered it too early to forecast next year’s employment situation.

Timing Criticised

The headmaster of Hamilton Boys’ High School (Mr A. G. A. Baigent) said he strongly Criticised the timing of toe Government’s decision. “It is a deplorable situation when they start to mention a thing like that before

people start to get jobs,” Mr Baigent said. He said that toe psychological effect of toe publicity on unemployment benefits for jobless students would have a detrimental result. “The acceptance of unemployment benefits by school leavers is not a course board members, teachers or parents would wish pupils to adopt,” said Mr L. M. Moss (New Plymouth), president of toe New Zealand Secondary Schools Boards* Association, today.

1938 Act ■“There will be cases of family hardship where it will prove necessary. The Social Security Act has always provided for this: it was in toe original act brought in by Mr Savage in 1938. “Although toe act has always given this right to children over 16 we hope toe number taking it will be few.” It would be a disgrace to give 15-year-olds $9 a week, Mr K. W. Hay, Mayor of Mt Roskill, Auckland, told toe Local Bodies’ Association last night “As responsible people we should make representations to Government” he said. Children would be given $9 to go to toe beaches every day. They would never get into the habit of working. Learning to work was part of growing up.