YP Letters: Give young the choice to leave education for work earlier

From: Paul Rouse, Main Street, Sutton upon Derwent, York.
Do too many young people go to university?Do too many young people go to university?
Do too many young people go to university?

I LEFT grammar school in 1960 at age 15. My first job as an office junior in an advertising agency paid £1 a week, which just about covered my bus fares. I attended night school twice a week, and had a second job in the evenings which earned me around £10 a week, a lot of money in those days.

At age 18, I was production manager of an ad agency, had left night school, and was then earning up to £20 a week from the second job. Three years later, I had one of the biggest jobs in advertising so did not need the second job any more.

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I say this only to illustrate how keeping children and young adults in education until their early 20s can limit their potential. There is no way they can do what I did even if they sign on for an apprenticeship, which does not allow movement between companies, or a traineeship, that only lasts six months.

The school leaving age in England is now effectively 18 – why? Because it was pushed up to that by successive governments in order to mask the youth unemployment figures. Obviously, we can’t go back to 15, as that would put thousands of school teachers out of work. But, on the other hand, should we care? It would solve the so-called teacher shortage, and allow heads to get rid of those members of staff who should never have been there in the first place.

University education, which now seems to be regarded as essential for those who do not wish to be considered a failure, puts students and their families into debt, and for what? Despite the massive fees, tuition can be for as little as one and a half days a week.

An art and design graduate, for example, may be 22 years of age when seeking his or her first job. Because the tuition they have had is probably uncommercial, they will need training. That means a design company must be prepared to divert a fee- earning designer away from paid work.

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The education system needs a good shake-up. Pupils who will obviously gain little from staying on until 18 should be allowed to leave at 16. Companies should be encouraged financially to take on young interns who are there to learn, and who receive a small amount of money while they do.

It can be a free market, so the interns can stay or leave or move to another company whenever they choose. To stop our politicians worrying, the interns would remain the financial responsibility of their parents until 18. Oh, and can someone sort out those money-grabbing universities?