XN000022-1972-03-16 — Page 24

Thursday, March 16, 1972

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Of the age group 14 to 17 inclusive, 152,549 had not

been attending school with 28,710 of this group employed in industry at

the end of 1971, one could assume that about 123,000 in this age group

were either unemployed or employed outside industry, he said.

Even a 10 per cent unemployment was a large number, not to mention

those in the older age groups who might be in a similar situation, he said.

Jobs had to be found for all those young people who were

unemployed and hence industrial development was an urgent matter of a

magnitude only Government could provide the framework for, he added.

"Unemployment and unprofitable leisure are poison to young people,"

he said. "The increasing number of violent crimes perpetrated by youth today

must be due in part to the fact that children were not attending school nor

engaging in gainful work."

Free Schooling

Although Government was aiming at free secondary schooling for

50 per cent of this age group by 1976, it was not sufficient and moreover

still had a long way to go, he said.

"I suggest that the process be accelerated and the need be more

emphasized and if feasible, technical biased education be provided to the

extent of one-third of the candidates for post primary education," he said.

"A well-thought-out White Paper on our social problems is most

desirable," Mr. Ann said.

Mr. Ann concluded his talk by endorsing fully the Financial

Secretary's "important indication of his new approaches" when he presented

his Budget on March 1.

/He agreed