Doubt about jobless figures

Press, 11 February 1981, Page 1

Doubt about jobless figures

Most school principals in Christchurch are doubtful about the origins of the Government’s statement that more than 7000 school-leavers are looking for jobs.

The headmaster of Papanui High School, Mr ,P R. Hay, expressed a majority feeling when he said, “I don’t know where they got the figures, so I must treat them with a certain amount of suspicion,” Mr T. R. Hitchings, headmaster of Riccarton High School, said, “I am mystified to know where they got their figures.” None of the secondary schools approached by “The Press” had been asked by the Education Department to supply figures about their schoolleavers, and none were prepared to comment on the accuracy of the Government’s figures. “I wouldn’t be able to hazard

a guess,” said Hornby High School’s head, Mr A. E. L. Britton. An Auckland principal, Mr Mann of Green Bay High School, has described the statistical base on which the unemployment figures are calculated in New Zealand as phoney. He said that the problem ■was “more evil” than the Government was prepared to think. , According to the Minister of Labour- (Mr Bolger) the number of unemployed school-leavers, said to be 7035 at the end of January, is more than 2000 above the number registered at the end of January last year. The Assistant Director of Education (Mr J. A. Ross) said yesterday that it was very difficult to tell precise numbers. - His department was in the process of doing "a sec-ond-phase analysis” of the

returnees to schools. He was more concerned however, "that the reasons why young people were returning to school should be looked into. Many principals in the Christchurch area have reported senior school rolls slightly up on last year, but most have said it is too early to notice any trends. Hagley High School’s principal, Miss R. E. Heinz, said -that her school’s roll had increased, as predicted. In the fifth and sixth forms, 33 pupils had said they would be working now if jobs were available. Mr Hitchings also reported an increased roll, but this reflected a trend of several years. There was no evidence, he said, of a big upsurge in the number of pupils who had returned to school because they could not get jobs.

The principal of Avonside Girls’ High School, Miss H. L. Williams, reported a lower roll this year. “I suspect there is a large number who have passed University Entrance .‘sitting’ and are seeking employment from home rather than return to school,” she said. Young people were more likely to get a job from school than if they had been at home, unemployed for some months, she said. Miss Williams was especially concerned about the number of brighter young people applying for jobs below their abilities.

At Papanui High School, the senior roll is slightly up this year. The main difference, according to Mr Hay, is that 87 pupils have said they are back at school simply because they cannot find work. Tn the last two years, that

figure would have been closer to 50.

The Minister of Labour (Mr Bolger) said last evening he was concerned that “irresponsible” assertions about unemployment would undermine the confidence of school-leavers looking for work, reports the Press Association. Figures released on Monday showed that although there had been a reduction in the number of job seekers registered as unemployed, the number of school-leavers seeking employment had increased to 7035, Mr Bolger said. “I am concerned about the level of unemployment, of course, but I am much more concerned about the alarmist assertions that have been made by the Leader of the Opposition about the prospect facing school-lea-vers,” he said.