SENT TO WORK

Wairarapa Daily Times, 1 May 1937, Page 5

SENT TO WORK

CHILDREN OF IMMATURE YEARS. DUNEDIN, Friday. Reporting to liis 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 Jjtfotori.es Act amendment provided that 3Pa boy or girl 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 yeaf or more of factory experience and so were not even considered 1 A.\rther report by Mr Conly showed thktAif 135 boys over 14 years, only “44 were continuing their education atsecondary schools, while 58 were unable to obtain work owing to having had previous experience. (P.A.)