§ Mr. HEWINSasked the President of the Board of Education whether he has caused any inquiry to be made from the education committees of county councils in England and Wales as to the nature of the occupations taken up by boys on first leaving school; what county councils now collect and publish such information; whether he will publish all such available information as a Parliamentary Paper; and whether he will take steps to induce all county education committees to keep a register of after careers of children on leaving school?
Mr. PEASEThe Board make no inquiry from education committees as to the nature of the occupations taken up by boys after leaving elementary schools, but such inquiries are made by certain local education authorities, and the results have in some cases been communicated to the Board. The education committees of nine county councils have submitted schemes under the Choice of Employment Act, and when the schemes come into operation the Board propose to call for information of the kind referred to in the question, in connection with the working of the schemes. I understand that in Warwickshire, Wiltshire, and Gloucestershire a systematic record is kept by the local education authority of the occupations of92W boys and girls leaving elementary schools, and that steps are being taken to collect similar information in Cumberland and in Huntingdonshire. I shall be glad to suggest to county education committees the desirability of collecting particulars of the kind referred to, but until I have heard from them I cannot say whether I shall be in a position to publish statistics of any value. Meanwhile, I shall be glad to give the hon. Member any information at present in my possession. The authorities of secondary schools on the Board's grant list are required by the Board to keep a record of the further education or the occupation taken up by each pupil after leaving the school. This information is published annually in the Board's Statistics of Public Education, Part I.