School Till Fifteen
The announcement by the Minister of Education that the school age will quite definitely be raised to fifteen on the appointed date disposes of persistent and disturbing rumours. They were by no means without foundation. Some Ministers felt that to choose a moment of acute man-power crisis to cut off the inflow of some 390,00o children into industry would be disastrous. It will, in fact, be, if not disastrous, at any rate a further handicap in a field in which handicaps are numerous enough already. But there can be no ques- tion that the Cabinet has taken the right decision. This is essentially a case in which sacrifices must be made for the sake of a greater good. The date for raising the age has already been postponed for a year and some excuse could always be found for postponing it further. Every postponement means delaying the payment of valuable dividends in the future. Each year in a child's education is, or should be, more important than the last, and the extra year which will begin on April 1st should most substantially improve the quality of the future citizens who will be staying on in the schools instead of making a too early start in industrial life. Parents may lose the value of the children's earnings in the 14-15 year ; it is a fortunate chance that they should first become accustomed to that at a time of full employment. Not all schools will be fully equipped or fully staffed ; that is inevitable in the prevailing circum- stances. But there will be no such deficiency as to justify any postponement of a necessary reform on educational grounds.
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