THE SCHOOL AGE

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 224, 16 June 1920, Page 8

THE SCHOOL AGE

EXTENSION URGED

ADDRESS BY DIRECTOR OF.EDUCATIBN

In an address to members of thb Council of Education yesterday morning, the Director-General of Education (Dr. W. J. Anderson) urged that the timo had arrived when they should consider extending the age for compulsory attendance at school from It to 15 years. "I do not mean," lie said, "by tlio application of thbsp very limited and moro or less ineffective provisions for compulsory nttendanco at continuation classcs * that have nlreadv found their way on to the Statute Book. I mean the extension of the compulsory age for full-time, attendance."

Dr. Anderson said it was quite clear that everybody was satisfied that tho age at which a child graduated from the primary school was a period when every attention should be given to young people before they settled down to some occupation. At present there was a great loss to the community through lack of care in looking after children after the age of 14 years was reached. TbVi extension of the school age could not be effected unless they were prepared to do a great deal more in the shape of organisation and classification of schools than was done at the present time. The Poor Parent. Another point was that if thry were going to extend the ago they would have to consider the position of the poor parent, whose children nt present went to work after leaving the primary school. It was just possible that they would have to consider wlietlier an allowance should not be made in- such cases. Ho did not say whether this should be done, or whether it was desirable or necessary. In any case, he was confident that tho people of tbfc Dominion were prepared to make this sacrifice in order to ensure nn extra year's compulsory schooling for their children. Never before had there been such a flow of children who were prepared to take up a secondary schools course. However, they could not undertake to provide education for every child .up to the ago of 15 without reconsidering the relation of the primary and secondary schools; also it could not be considered until tho necessary accommodation was available in the schools. A Reconstructed Course. As to the course' of instruction to be imparted, he could not imagine for a moment that they would keep children up to the age of 15 years engaged solely on primary work. The proposal would wean the reconstruction of tho primary cours?, also the reconstruction of the continuation work that would follow. Tho Minister of Education would doubtless have something to say on the point before the council.