All 1 entries tagged School Leaving Age

Kids should stay in school until they're 18

There’s been a strong reaction to the Government’s plans to raise the school leaving age to 18. Some of it’s been a bit misguided – Donal Blaney thinks the school leaving age should be lowered rather than raised, but he also thinks the plans mean forcing kids to be in the classroom (which they don’t.)

Praguetory says Labour wants you in shackles till 18 and then working until you’re dead. But he also seems to assume that 16-18 year olds know what’s best for themselves.

They don’t.

Very few of the people who leave school at 16 end up as millionaires thanks to their own entrepreneurship. They end up on the dole, living off the benefits which Tories despise. If they get jobs they’ll be low-paid ones.

The Tories are sticking to their tedious line of thinking the bottom rung of society should be left to drift. They then complain when they do just that. A lot of kids need another two years of schooling or training, even if they don’t know it. They shouldn’t be expected to learn geology, Latin or maths for another two years. But training them to do something useful, and give them the skills needed for a career can only be a good thing, especially if we’re so keen to get people off benefits.

Christopher Doidge : 12 Jan 2007 18:24 |  Tags: Education News Politics School Leaving Age |  Comments (30) |  Close comments |  Report a problem