Literacy news
Children 'should be allowed to leave school at 14', claims former CBI chief
26 Jul 2011
Digby Jones, former Trade Minister and head of the Confederation of British Industry, has proclaimed that children ‘should be allowed to leave school at 14’.
The ex-CBI director also entitled Lord Jones of Birmingham said that, young disruptive pupils would be better off abandoning their education and “earning a few bob” to encourage the growth of the struggling British Economy.
Allowing youngsters to embark on vocational training and get jobs at 14 would fill the skills gap while stimulating economic growth through increased spending, Lord Jones said.
However school leaders have expressed their concern that Lord Jones’ initiative would leave millions of young people without basic levels of numeracy and literacy, therefore condemning them to a lifetime of low-paid employment at best.
Lord Jones, who is now business ambassador for UK Trade & Investment, claimed that with more skilled young people and a weak pound, Britain could re-establish itself as a manufacturing centre and rebalance the economy away from the banks and public sector.
“If they make a few bob, they spend it and what do you do when you spend money? You create jobs”, he argued.
Conversely Brian Lightman, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said:
“This would be an extraordinary retrograde step.
“If we allowed people to leave school at 14, we would be letting loose a cohort of people in the workplace who are simply unprepared.
“Research shows that early specialism is dangerous, especially at a time when we simply do not know what sort of workforce we will need in 20 or 30 years time and young people are going to have to work longer than any previous generation.”
Read more on the Telegraph website.
