Raise The School Leaving Age?

[BERNADETTE]

Originally Posted by Jae Swift

I can guarentee it won't work. Lol.

How can you guarantee it won't work?

[Jae Swift]

Originally Posted by BERNADETTE

How can you guarantee it won't work?

We will see.

Just a guess.

[BERNADETTE]

It is just that I can see it helping some kids who through no fault of their own may leave school under qualified. Matybe they are in dead end jobs because their family needs the income to survive. If they were then to get the extra educational help they need maybe they can aspire to getting a better job in the future.

[firth_dawn]

i think it should stay as it is as like people say them who want to learn will do so and can go on to higher education at college and them who dont want to learn will get nowhere in life until they decide to do something with there life.

[flashy]

well i think its an excellent idea, it would save the government millions in job seekers benefits and those millions could be put to good use by opening up new sixth forms...unfortunately it doesnt come into force till the year Reece leaves school

[BERNADETTE]

Thank goodness someone else sees it as a positive move!!

[West Ender]

Education to the age of 18, and beyond, is available now for those who want it. Those who don't want it will not be made more academically minded by being forced to stay at school and they won't be made into better citizens either.

When I left school those of us at Grammar Schools couldn't leave until the age of 16 but the school leaving age was 15. There was that, now old-fashioned, system in place - the apprenticeship - and many a 15 year old school leaver entered into one and learned a trade. There was a sense of pride in having a job, earning a living (albeit often only just) and setting out on the road to a future as a craftsman/woman.

Now the apprenticeship has been replaced by short courses etc. and the work ethic has given way to the "I want it now" attitude. Making unwilling teenagers, who aren't going to study, stay at school for another 2 years will only reinforce the concept, to some, that there is no need to get out and make your way in the world as someone else will always pick up the tab.

[WillowTheWhisp]

I agree with you Westender. My 16 year old daughter could have left school this summer and got a dead end job or signed on the dole but she has her sights set on what she wants to do and is going to college to acheive those aims. The further education is currently available for those who want it. One thing she does like about college is that everyone there is there because they want to be there and so the whole attitude of the class is a positive one of wanting to learn.

[West Ender]

Good luck to her, Willow, I'm sure she'll do well. I just hope her college doesn't become inundated with unwilling, not to say bloody-minded, "detainees".

[WillowTheWhisp]

Well as it doesn't come into force yet I don't think it will affect her.

I'm more interested at the moment in how the changes (yet again) to Moorhead will affect my younger daughter.

[jambutty]

This is yet another crackpot idea from the government. When is Brown and Co going to learn that you can take a herd of horses to water but you cannot make them all drink?

The same applies to kids. They are different Mr Brown. Some are bright, some are not. Some have academic tendencies some are practically natural engineers. Some have a bent for electrical work, some for plumbing, some for carpentry. They all have a skill of some sort. Find it – bring it out – nurture it.

The money would be better spent on making sure that every single child leaving primary school can’t just read and write but is a COMPETENT writer, reader and skilled in basic maths.

The other point is where is the funding for this crazy idea going to come from? Further cuts to other services perhaps? It certainly won’t be funded by cancelling Trident, ID cards and not embarking on other white elephants.

[Eric]

I read the article with more than a little amusement. Johnson was citing Canada, particularly the Province of Ontario as a model. A couple of years ago Ontario actually lowered the leaving age in a sense. Ontario schools used to have a Grade 13 for students who were heading for university. This was cut out, leaving universities to cope with the strain of more applicants, and the influx of younger students too immature to cope with independence. Many of Ontario's universities are now facing problems associated with underage drinking and unplanned pregnancy. The number of abortions performed at KGH has increased alarmingly and the Hotel Dieu has tripled the size of its detox facitity. The major problem facing Kingston Police Department at weekends is controlling drunken underage students. At this year's Homecoming Weekend at Queens' University a street party attended by over 7000 revellers, along with the general partying cost the city over $400,000 in policing costs. (However, the weekend festivities brought millions of dollars into the city ... all the hotels and restaurants were fully booked. Annually Queens' puts well over $1.5 billion into the city economy and the students spend over $200 million with local businesses) Fortunately for Kingstonians these drunks are good natured and only mildly annoying as most of them live in the student ghetto, and area of the city in which the large Victorian houses are converted into student housing. Another downside is that a major financial burden has been thrown onto the only partially publically funded universities, which has resulted in a dilution of the quality of higher education. (Queens' is lucky in having a well-heeled group of allumni who annually kick in millions of tax-deductable donations to their alma mater. Queens' owns a castle in England ... Herstmonceux in Sussex I believe ... and one third of the Rembrandts in Canada are owned by the University and on display at Agnes Etherington Art Gallery ... ok, so its only 2 Rembrandts, but ....) I think the point is that whatever the law, whatever the leaving age one must remember the definition of horticulture: "You can lead a whore to culture, but you can't make her think." There was one about a horse too, but I forget it.

[Nickelson]

well you cant claim jobseekers till your 18 anyway flashy...

[WillowTheWhisp]

So what do 16 year olds who can't get a job do for money?

[Nickelson]

Struggle i know you get a EMA of £30 a week if you are in college.