§ Mr. C. EDWARDSasked the Minister of Labour the number of boys who have left school each year since 1921; the numbers of those who have found work; and the total number of boys who left school during that period and have never been employed?
§ Mr. BETTERTONInformation in reply to the first part of the question is given below.
Statistics as to the proportion of boys leaving school since 1921 who have found work is not available. Some information, however, bearing on the subject is contained in the Report of an Inquiry into the Personal Circumstances and Industrial History of a representative number of juveniles registered for employment in June and July, 1925. I am sending the hon. Member a copy.
The following is the information regarding school leaving:
The numbers of boys who are recorded as having left public elementary schools in England and Wales for employment, during each of the years ended 31st March, 1921–1926, inclusive, were as follow:
1921–1922 … … … 227,683 1922–1923 … … … 256,715 1923–1924 … … … 254,356 1924–1925 … … … 273,789 1925–1926 … … … 276,751 The numbers of boys who are recorded as having left secondary schools on the grant list in England and Wales, during or at the end of the school year (31st July), excluding those known to have entered other secondary schools and those whose parents removed from the district, were as follow:
1921–1922 … … … 33,019 1922–1923 … … … 35,754 1923–1924 … … … 35,839 1924–1925 … … … 34,920 1925–1926 … … … 34,217 As regards Scotland, it has not been possible in the time available to obtain figures regarding boys only: the following figures relate to boys and girls who 47W finally left grant-earning day schools in Scotland during each of the years ended 31st July, 1921–1926, inclusive:
1921–1922 … … … 91,383 1922–1923 … … … 91,933 1923–1924 … … … 93,549 1924–1925 … … … 91,937 1925–1926 … … … 88,497