§ 20. Mr. Marksasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what progress he has made in his discussions on the single school leaving date; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. Edward ShortAs I said in my reply to my hon. Friend's Question on 2nd May, my right hon. Friend the First Secretary of State and Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity is consulting both sides of industry. She hopes to complete her consultations in the very near future.—[Vol. 763; c. 1277.]
§ Mr. MarksI am grateful for that reply. Will my right hon. Friend assure us that it is still the intention to raise the school leaving age in 1973 and that the single school leaving date is regarded as a logical step towards it? There is concern in educational circles that there may be objections to the single date from Government Departments. Will he consult with his right hon. Friend on this matter?
§ Mr. ShortAs I have said, we are consulting both the T.U.C., our consultations with which have been completed, and the C.B.I., the consultations with which have not been completed. I agree that this is a desirable thing to do as soon as we can. We should think of the secondary school course in terms of the school year and not in terms of a term. The difficulty, of course, lies in putting the whole year's output of leavers onto the labour market at the same time. The 800 last Government introduced a compromise a few years ago and I hope that we can now take a step forward from that.