A BAD POSITION.

Wairarapa Age, 1 May 1937, Page 5

A BAD POSITION.

CHILDREN BEING SENT TO WORK. VOCATIONAL OFFICER'S REPORT. DUNEDIN, April 30. Reporting to his association last evening the vocational guidance officer, Mr. Conly, stated that a noticeable feature in December, January and February was the large number of mothers who sought work for children of immature years and often of poor physique. With prosperous times this seemed wrong. Already a tabulation. of school figures showed that more young people after standard 6 had gone to work in preference to attending secondary schools, while in many cases boys had accepted jobs which would later handicap them when seeking entry into a skilled occupation. In effect the recent Factories Act amendment provided that if a girl or boy spent any time in a factory such time must be paid for by any subsequent factory employer. This also applied to office, and shop workers. Recently an employer had interviewed over 50 applicants for foundry work. More than three-fourths had had a year or more of factory experience and so were not even considered. A further report by Mr. Conly showed that of 135 boys over 14 years, only 44 were continuing their education at secondary schools, while 58 were unable to obtain work owing to having had previous experience.—(P.A.)