As this is an ongoing thread on another forum I wondered what Buzzjackers think. I personally think school should only be compulsory up to say age 13 and after that it should be optional. The kids who wanted to get qualifications would carry on and rightly so but those chavs who didn't could stop going without fear of parents being prosecuted. In the Philippines school is only compulsory from age 7 to 12. After that those who just want to do menial jobs like work in the rice fields can do and can stop school. They have a good basic education and can read and write which is enough to get through life. After all who in their everyday lives uses logarithms and the works of Shakespeare? :rolleyes: There are lots of disruptive pupils here who have no intention of studying and just disrupt classes, get expelled and move schools so what's the point in forcing them to go when they plainly don't want to be there? There's one in my daughter's class, at a good strict Catholic school. She's in the head's office nearly every day for bunking off and swearing at teachers yet has respectable parents. She sleeps on her desk during lessons and has told the head and her parents "look get this I don't wanna go to school." She's told the other girls she doesn't care about GCSE's. There must be thousands like her. I absolutely hated school too and left as soon as I could at age 16.

Edited January 13, 201015 yr by Victor Meldrew

I know it's REALLY wrong but I actually agree with you. :drama:

 

I want to stay in school obviously, but I don't think it should be forced upon people who really, really don't want to.

According to a poster on the DS thread, it's not compulsory in India either but I need to check that as I don't want to be accused of stating incorrect facts.

:manson:

 

The UK has far higher literacy rates than the Philippines because we have a better school system.

 

I had no problem with staying at school, although i should have left half way through 6th year to earn money for uni.

 

The problem is discipline at school and the likes. This country is far too namby pamby and soft touch.

Yes, up to the age of 16.

 

However 15 & 16 year olds who lets just say are not the most academically brightest of the bunch should have to do some up type of National Vocation Course in a more practical working environment to gain a some sort of qualification rather than just leave school.

What if a lad's father say is a landscape gardener or carpenter, plumber, decorator or whatever and the lad could join his firm at say 14 and learn on the job without qualifications? There should be more flexibility like that.

What if a lad's father say is a landscape gardener or carpenter, plumber, decorator or whatever and the lad could join his firm at say 14 and learn on the job without qualifications? There should be more flexibility like that.

Oh thats a wonderful idea, lets increase the number of uneducated scum in this country legally. Make the cancer on this country terminal why don't we.

 

:manson:

 

The UK has far higher literacy rates than the Philippines because we have a better school system.

 

I had no problem with staying at school, although i should have left half way through 6th year to earn money for uni.

 

The problem is discipline at school and the likes. This country is far too namby pamby and soft touch.

 

You can't always discipline adolescents though. No-one can do anything with this girl at my daughter's school. I've heard she's not bad like drinking or taking drugs but just doesn't agree with going to school. So what should be done with her then? She's told the other girls she'll get pregnant then, at 14 or 15 then she won't have to go!!

Edited January 13, 201015 yr by Victor Meldrew

Oh thats a wonderful idea, lets increase the number of uneducated scum in this country legally. Make the cancer on this country terminal why don't we.

 

 

Well in such a case he wouldn't be doing nothing would he or claiming benefits? He'd be learning a worthwhile trade.

Edited January 13, 201015 yr by Victor Meldrew

I think there is a case to be made for allowing people to leave school early if they have a job to go to although I'm not sure how you would make sure that job lasts more than a few months. However, if someone can leave school at 14 without a job to go to, that seems to be highly likely to lead to a life on benefits.

Should be compulsory for up to the age of 16. But I think it would be better to have a school for people who want to learn, and a school for the others that can't be bothered, but are forced anyway. This might stop the "can't be bothered" kids getting in the way of the "want to learn" kids education. Or something like that, anyway.

 

But you don't drop subjects until Year 10, and I think this should change. Do all subjects in year 7 to try them out, and then drop for year 8. I really don't like 3 years of being forced to do art. Also, I think Maths should be the only compulsory subject for GCSE. You need maths for pretty much everything, but I don't think you need science or english for everything. I mean, we like in the UK, we can already speak English, so I don't see as much point in the subject.

Yes, of course children are going to make the correct decisions which will affect their lives at the age of 13.

 

As a merit service, education should be compulsory until the age of 16 (you speak of logarithms and Shakespeare, but that isn't a problem with education itself, but the education being given), and then you should be in some form of education, training or job until age 21 I say (with the exceptions of gap years for uni students...)

I personally think that education should be compulsory tbh... although this is just my opinion but if you look at the evidence it really makes no difference, because those who want a education comes out with good grades but those who don't want to be educated come out with poor results. So they could leave school and get an education and the experience elsewhere such as working and learning as many young children learn while working and prefer hands on learning.

There are very strict rules about children under 18 working. Obviously they are more strict for 14 year olds than 17 year olds, so all these rules will have to be revised. Also Health & Safety guidelines are very restrictive for this age group.Why children would want to leave before they were 16, I don't know. Yes schools could do more to make education more interesting, and certainly school doesn't work for all 14/15 year olds.

 

I feel 13 is far too young to be leaving school, what employer in their right mind will take on 13/14 year old with little or no qualifications. Can you possibly imagine 13/14 year olds working in a factory or in a bank for instance. The only jobs they would get is shelf stacking at the local supermarket, well if that is all they have as an ambition, then fine. Chris suggested they could work for their parents, not every parent runs their own business, if they did I would suggest these parents would far more likely to want their kids to stay at school to get better qualifications.

 

The last lesson school leavers at 13/14 get, if this ever happens, should be how to sign on.

If a 15-year-old already knows they're going to go into a practical career, then I think forcing them into maths classes is a waste of everyone's time. Not only are they not going to learn anything, but if they're really not arsed at all then there's obviously a good chance they're going to cause major disruption in lessons. So, although I think some kind of education until 16 is needed, I do think that once kids get to GCSE they should be allowed to pick all of their subjects, even if there's no English/maths/science.

Chris, are you seriously holding the Philippines up as the model country that Britain should follow?

 

Aside from the issue that you'd be sending immature 13 year olds out into work, do you really think that everyone at the age of 13 is at the stage where they can make a serious, mature and informed decision about their future?

I know I wouldn't - I suspect the end result would be a lot of young kids jacking in school because it's "boring and pointless", and then regretting it in later years.

As long as these uneducated morons don't expect a penny from the state in benefits until they work to pay somnething IN to the system, I don't really give a flying fukk what age they leave school to be honest.

 

But - it should be compulsory that if they DO leave they will need to attend strict skills training - 9 to 5, Mon-Fri, and then, maybe, they can have a small training allowance. The last thing we need loitering our streets are even more illiterate chavs who've escaped the education system.

 

If these school dropouts were forced to do a skills training course very akin to work - you'd probably see the number of drop-outs plummet like a stone.

 

The other bugbear I have is the girls who get pregnant to leave school or opt out of work... this should absolutely not be an option. If a girl of, say, 14 drops out to have a baby it should be compulsory that by the age of 20 she does the extra 2 years schooling she missed. There's no excuse for uneducated teenage parents who've cheated the system by breeding.

If a girl of, say, 14 drops out to have a baby it should be compulsory that by the age of 20 she does the extra 2 years schooling she missed.

 

 

Think that's the most ridiculous thing I've ever read on any forum. You can't send a 20 year-old WOMAN back to school. :rolleyes:

I think they should be allowed to leave at 14 provided they go into an apprenticeship or go to college and learn a trade like carpentry, mechanics or whatever and if they drop out of the apprenticeship or college then they are banned from the welfare state for 3 years, I don't want chavs roaming the streets causing mayhem because they left school at 14 so that should not be an option, if they want to go to college and learn a trade then it is worth considering

 

While I am a self confessed Maggie Thatcher fan I do regret the decline of the apprenticeship scheme in her reign as that was a good thing for the UK having people learn a trade

 

I do however feel that the education system needs reforming with more life skills subjects and social skills subjects and more financial and money management subjects as they are things kids will need in life, senior school should be about preparing kids for the world of work as opposed to filling their heads with a load of crap that will no longer matter when they leave school like Shakespeare and algebra

Chris, are you seriously holding the Philippines up as the model country that Britain should follow?

 

Aside from the issue that you'd be sending immature 13 year olds out into work, do you really think that everyone at the age of 13 is at the stage where they can make a serious, mature and informed decision about their future?

I know I wouldn't - I suspect the end result would be a lot of young kids jacking in school because it's "boring and pointless", and then regretting it in later years.

 

fully agree

 

 

I think they should be allowed to leave at 14 provided they go into an apprenticeship or go to college and learn a trade like carpentry, mechanics or whatever and if they drop out of the apprenticeship or college then they are banned from the welfare state for 3 years, I don't want chavs roaming the streets causing mayhem because they left school at 14 so that should not be an option, if they want to go to college and learn a trade then it is worth considering

 

While I am a self confessed Maggie Thatcher fan I do regret the decline of the apprenticeship scheme in her reign as that was a good thing for the UK having people learn a trade

 

I do however feel that the education system needs reforming with more life skills subjects and social skills subjects and more financial and money management subjects as they are things kids will need in life, senior school should be about preparing kids for the world of work as opposed to filling their heads with a load of crap that will no longer matter when they leave school like Shakespeare and algebra

 

fully agree with this too. yep they can go into apprenticship schemes at 14-5 but only alongside core academic subjects ... so a part time apprenticship with core schoolwork.