School leaving age questioned

Press, 22 October 1986, Page 14

School leaving age questioned

PA Wellington Serious thought should be given to raising the school leaving age to 18, said the chairman of Parliament’s Education and Science Select Committee, Mr Noel Scott, (Lab., Tongariro). Mr Scott, who recently returned from a six-week visit to the United States, questioned the wisdom of separating training assistance programmes designed to help young unemployed after they had left school from the basic education system.

In both the United States and New Zealand costly attempts were being made to rescue school drop-outs and young unemployed by huge money injections into belated social skills and training courses. Such courses were run through Labour Departments but research in the U.S. threw increasing doubt on the social, educational or financial justification for such a division of training from education. “At a time when New

Zealand is allocating hundreds of millions of dollars into short-term, ad hoc, post-school skills and social training for the very young who have left school without job or qualification, this question needs critical examination,” he said. Mr Scott said many American states worked on the problem within schools or by a combination of school, training centre and workplace education.

For example, California required students to attend high school until 18 and all students could graduate with a full leaving diploma.

“Further education is seen as normal and high school graduation is required for all but the most menial labour,” he said.

Raising the age from 15 to 18 would require careful review and planning. There would also have to be “suitable exits,” for example where employment or apprenticeships were available to those under 18.