HC Deb 04 July 1963 vol 680 cc564-5
9. Mr. Fitch

asked the Minister of Education if he now intends to raise the school leaving age to 16 years before October, 1964.

Sir E. Boyle

No, Sir. This would be quite impossible, but I intend before the end of this Parliament, as my predecessor promised, to make a further statement on the Government's attitude to this important reform.

Mr. Fitch

Can the right hon. Gentleman be a little specific? Can he tell us the year in which he intends to raise the school leaving age to 16? Or is this to be a major item in Conservative Party policy for the next General Election?

Sir E. Boyle

I deeply regret the way in which any statement I make on this subject—I am not specifically blaming the hon. Member—is invariably greeted, sometimes even in the educational Press, with a reference to party politics. We are facing a population explosion in the schools. The figure of prospective school population is now quite markedly different from any imagined at the time Lord Eccles made his original statement. It is for that reason only that I am not able to make a definite statement now.

Mr. Willey

Is the right hon. Gentleman now going back even on what Lord Eccles said? The failure of the Government to implement theCrowther Report will be a major black mark on their education policy. Is it not becoming increasingly clear that they will not make a statement until the eve of the General Election?

Sir E. Boyle

I am not going back on what Lord Eccles said. I will fulfil exactly the pledge he gave the House. It is worth remembering that there will be a step forward in the next education year when Christmas leaving at the minimum age will be abolished, and that this will make a reality of the fourth year in all secondary schools.

Mr. Dudley Smith

Is it not the case that there is an ever increasing and encouraging number of children attending secondary modern schools after the age of 15?

Sir E. Boyle

That is correct. Voluntary staying on has risen in this Parliament from about one-third to nearly two-fifths. But that does not alter the fact of the pledge by my predecessor that a further statement would be made in this Parliament, and I certainly intend to fulfil it.