Education Commission Leaving Age Of 17 Suggested

Press, Volume C, Issue 29505, 5 May 1961, Page 19

Education Commission Leaving Age Of 17 Suggested

(New Zealand Prase Association)

AUCKLAND, May 4. The school leaving age should be raised progressively to 17 years, mainly because the peak age at which delinquency occurred was between 15 and 16 years, a Child Welfare social worker, Mr E. W. Braithwaite, said in submissions to the Commission on Education in Auckland today. At present, children were leaving school as soon as they legally could, at an age when they were not fitted to cope with the complexities of the modern world, he said. “They are confused, bewildered, naive, immature children, expected to behave as adults and make mature choices,” said Mr Braithwaite.

"We expect altogether too much from them—and the fact that the model age for delinquent behaviour is at a point not far beyond school leaving age is not, in my view, a coincidence," he said. He suggested a gradual increase in the leaving age, perhaps by three months each year until the age of 17 was reached. Mr Braithwaite said he felt the school curriculum should be reorganised for the lower 30 or 40 per cent of pupils, with the emphasis on real-life situations, and away from academic studies. Curricula at present were, in the main, tied to the School Certificate examination, which none of these children ever sat