§ 6 Mr. Doddsasked the Minister of Education what steps she is taking to obtain the co-operation of industry to ensure that grammar school boys do not leave school before they take the general certificate examination to commence apprenticeships in industry, in view of the increasingly large number of boys who leave school on reaching the age of 16.
§ Miss HorsbrughSome apprenticeship schemes allow young people with recognised educational qualifications to enter them later and complete their training in a shorter period. My right hon. Friend the Minister of Labour has suggested to a number of important industries that they should reconsider their schemes of apprenticeship so as to provide for more flexibility of this kind. I strongly support this, but my information does not bear out the suggestion that more boys are leaving grammar schools on reaching the age of 16.