§ 24. Mr. Meacherasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science what is the current percentage of children staying on at school beyond the ages, respectively, of 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19 years in each of the Department's regions.
§ Mr. van StraubenzeeAs the Answer contains a number of figures I will, with permission, circulate the information in the Official Report.
§ Mr. MeacherDoes not the Minister agree that the slow down in closing the gap in the timing of school leaving between children in the North and in the
| PERCENTAGE OF PUPILS REMAINING AT SCHOOL BEYOND THE STATUTORY LEAVING AGE* | |||||||||||
| Maintained schools (excluding special schools and immigrant centres) January, 1971 | |||||||||||
| Boys and Girls aged | |||||||||||
| Region | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | ||||||
| North | … | … | … | … | … | … | 48.5 | 27.6 | 15.4 | 5.2 | 0.3 |
| Yorkshire and Humberside | … | … | … | 50.3 | 29.8 | 17.0 | 5.9 | 0.4 | |||
| East Midlands | … | … | … | … | … | 49.4 | 27.8 | 15.3 | 5.1 | 0.3 | |
| East Anglia | … | … | … | … | … | 52.4 | 27.1 | 14.2 | 4.5 | 0.3 | |
| South East (including Greater London) | … | 65.1 | 39.7 | 21.2 | 7.0 | 0.6 | |||||
| SouthWest | … | … | … | … | … | 62.1 | 33.3 | 17.7 | 5.3 | 1.4 | |
| West Midlands | … | … | … | … | … | 53.5 | 29.4 | 15.2 | 5.2 | 1.4 | |
| North West | … | … | … | … | … | 49.8 | 27.7 | 14.5 | 5.0 | 0.3 | |
| Wales | … | … | … | … | … | … | 52.5 | 35.7 | 21.5 | 8.2 | 1.0 |
| England and Wales | … | … | … | … | 56.3 | 32.9 | 17.8 | 6.0 | 0.5 | ||
| * 15-year-old pupils with birthdays between 1st January and 1st September inclusive, expressed as a percentage of the estimated number of 13-year-old pupils two years earlier. | |||||||||||
| The number of pupils aged 16, 17, 18 and 19 expressed as a percentage of the 13-year-old pupils three, four, five and six years earlier, respectively. |
§ South is largely due to the almost total cutback in renewing and rebuilding secondary schools? Does not this indicate that exclusive concentration on primary schools was devised to make sure that inequalities of education were bound to increase at the crucial later stages?
§ Mr. van StraubenzeeNo, Sir. This argument cannot be sustained for one moment, if only because the trends and differences between regions go back far beyond the period covered by the recent and rightful concentration on the replacement of old primary schools. What the hon. Gentleman will find—and here I think he and I can agree—is that the figures are a total justification for the decision to raise the compulsory school-leaving age this year.
§ Mr. Selwyn GummerDoes not my hon. Friend agree that the only way to ensure equality of opportunity is by providing decent primary schools so that children can have a fair start instead of trying to botch up schemes at the other end of school life when the damage has been done and children from poor homes have not an equal chance with children of the middle class?
§ Mr. van StraubenzeeI entirely agree with my hon. Friend. The evidence is overwhelming that a child given a good start at the primary stage has a running advantage, from whatever home he comes.
§ Following is the information: