EDUCATION (CONTINUATION SCHOOLS) BILL. (Hansard, 24 March 1908)

§ MR. CHIOZZA MONEY (Paddington, N.)

In rising to ask leave to introduce a Bill to establish Compulsory Continuation Schools in England and Wales, I trust that the House will deem the importance of the subject sufficient excuse for my trespassing upon its time for the space of a few minutes. The attention of the House has been largely occupied during recent years with one particular aspect of the subject of education, but it is my good fortune to-day, at least, not to have to tread the thorny path of sectarian controversy. More fortunate than my right hon. friend the President of the Board of Education, I am able to direct the attention of the House to the real needs of the rising generation. The Bill covers both urban and rural districts, but the brief moments I have at disposal only enable me to 1235 deal with the larger urban side. For good or for evil, the majority of our people have become town dwellers. Far more than in any other country, our children are children of the city. Herded together in great masses, denied the simple security of existence which lies in direct access to the soil as a means of livelihood, exposed to the many vicissitudes which arise from roughly organised machine production on a large scale, the working populations of our large towns stand more than ever before in need of training in the arts of industry. Since industry is to be their occupation I submit that we must see to it that they lack nothing that we can easily bestow upon them of fit training for their destiny. And only less important because the numbers concerned are smaller, is the necessity of scientific agricultural training in rural districts. What is the actual condition of the youth of our towns? The answer is in too large a number of cases that they pass into the work of life altogether untrained. After a few brief years of elementary education they are set free, at the most dangerous period of their lives, at the beginning of adolescence, to become wage-earners. They pass into the seething turmoil of modern industry to play a game for wages without knowledge of the rules. In the great majority of cases no systematic education is received after thirteen or fourteen years of age. Perhaps the House will forgive me if I endeavour to show what the facts of the case are. At the last Census there were in England and Wales 4,600,000 youths of both sexes. How many of these continue their education? According to the Education Reports there were in attendance at various continuation schools numbers as follows: Working class and lower middle class students in England and Wales (fifteen to twenty-one years of age), 1904–5: technical institutions, 2,500; schools of art, 21,100; day technical classes, 780; day art classes, 2,600; evening schools, 360,000; higher elementary schools, 10,000; estimate for middle classes, 400,000; total, 796,980. Thus some 800,000 students between fourteen and twenty-one years of age are to be found in all England, as against nearly 5,000,000 youths of that age. Therefore 1236 only one in six of those between fourteen and twenty-one are undergoing any sort of systematic education. Even if we take those between fourteen and eighteen only, it is clear that some 2,000,000 out of 2,800,000 have done with education for ever. What is the practical result? Our towns are loaded with untrained boys and girls drifting surely into the ranks of the incompetent. For a few brief years the boys find it easy to earn money as van boys, shop boys, errand boys, lift boys. At about seventeen or eighteen years of age they find it difficult to obtain employment. Untrained, unskilled, they go to swell the ever-growing ranks of the unskilled labourers. It is in view of these melancholy facts that I beg to introduce a Bill for the continued education and training of the young. With the permission of the House I will briefly describe the provisions of the measure. In the first place, the Bill abolishes all total or partial exemptions from school attendance for boys and girls under fourteen years of age. It seems to me that it is an indispensable preliminary to compulsory continuation schools to see to it that fourteen years shall be the minimum for school exemption. Having abolished the half-timer, and made attendance at elementary schools compulsory until fourteen years of age, the Bill defines a "continuation scholar" as a boy between fourteen and seventeen, or a girl between fourteen and sixteen years of age. Having thus defined the ages within which continued education is to be compulsory, the Bill sets out the duty of the education authority in regard to continuation schools. The education authority is to establish classes, free of all fees, "for the continued education and technical training of all continuation scholars in its district who do not attend approved day secondary or day technical schools." As to the time of attendance, the Bill provides that the continuation schools are to be day schools, or, to be more precise, that the classes are not to terminate later than 6 o'clock p.m. On this point as on others, there may admittedly be differences of opinion, but I submit my own view that as the day is the proper time for work it is the proper time for school. The hours 1237 of attendance per week are to be six, and it is within the discretion of the authority to distribute those six hours over the week, whether on two days or three, or otherwise, as may least disturb the economic arrangements of the district. With a view both to interesting employers in the training of the boys and girls in their employ, and with a view to making such arrangement as shall least disturb industry, the education authority is allowed to co-opt, for the purpose of the measure, any number of employers not exceeding six. As to the standard of education and the curriculum, it is set out that the authority shall provide sufficient places, apparatus, material, books, tools, etc., as shall enable every boy and girl to be thoroughly trained. The scheme must have the approval of the Board of Education. The attendance of the scholars, as I have explained, is to be compulsory, and both the parent and the employers of the boy or girl are placed under penalties to secure such attendance. The cost of carrying out the provisions of the Bill is to be paid out of moneys provided by Parliament. The scheme thus broadly outlined is admittedly drastic. There is room, obviously, for many differences of opinion as to details, as to the limits of age, the hours of attendance and so forth. I shall be very happy to consider all representations that may be made on such points, but I am not without hope that at least the principle of the Bill may be freely and widely accepted by all parties in this House. The Bill as it stands, simply seeks to carry into effect here the admirable scheme of training which is actually in successful operation at Munich, and spreading from Munich to other parts of Germany. Ahead of us in educational matters for many generations Germany is drawing further ahead. Last year, when in Munich, I had the opportunity to see the Munich Continuation Schools and to hear from the lips of Dr. Kerschensteiner, their director, a description of their method. I was immensely impressed with their efficiency and their practical results. Admittedly such a measure is costly, but how better could we spend national wealth than in raising the standard of training of the great mass of our 1238 people? If we are to hold our own in the increasing intensity of modern competition, if we are to be worthy to continue to lead a great Empire, the necessity of increased expenditure is clearly forced upon us. Mr. Speaker, I beg to move.