SCHOOL ATTENDANCE AGE.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 73, Issue 370, 13 September 1930, Page 13 (Supplement)

SCHOOL ATTENDANCE AGE.

i Legislation to raise the school-leav-ing age in Britain to 15 years has been postponed until the autumn session of Parliament. There were Education Bills before the House of Commons during the session which ended last month. After Sir Charles Trevelyan the President of the Board of Education, had completed his discussions with representatives of the religious denominations which led to the production of the concordat on the question of the non-provided schools the original bill was withdrawn and a second and more comprehensive measure took its place. The second bill dealt with the schoolleaving age and maintenance test and it also incorporated the concordat. The Conservative Party opposed the Bill on various grounds and it was made clear that the left wing of the Labour Party still opposed the imposition of the means test in the matter of the maintenance grants. Fresh opposition was ra sed by Nonconformists and Roman Catholic members of the Labour Party. Thus the decision to withdraw the bill did.not come as a surprise. The Prime Minister has announced that a bill to raise the school leaving age to 15 will be presented to Parliament before the end of the calendar year, in order that I the change may come into operation I next April as originally arranged. His > statement made it clear that the concordat will not figure in the bill next session, though the thorny subject of

, the means test will remain. Labour members protest that the Government is able to embark upon a new programme of naval construction wiiich will involve an outlay of not less than £9,000,090, yet is not able to find the additional £2,000,000 which the removal of the means test would mean. The Government is confident of securing the passage of the original bill, as the sympathetic cooperation of the Liberals is assured, provided that the religious controversy is not raised again.