Should School be Compulsary for All?

The reason I raise this subject is because I have a cousin that has just turned 15 and has no interestt in school at all, she has been expelled from one school and is consantly suspended, causing arguments at home and making the family life hell. Recently whilst moving and waiting for a placement at the local secondary school she started helping in her dads new shop ( newsagents ) from organising paper rounds, serviing in the shop, stock takes, and book keeping etc. From shadowing her dad she very quickly became able to run the business without assistance and her general behaviour and attitude improved enormously and she learned so many new skills and showed a new maturity. However as the law requires as soon as a placement was available back to school she went and back came the bad behaviour, lack of interest in anything and bad attitude. Not to mention the abuse that the teachers take. No matter what punishment has been dished out by my aunt and uncle she has defied it all.
I believe that she has learned all that she will at school and would be much better suited to being removed form school and learning in the workplace - she has proved she is capable and more then willing - some people are just not academic, whilst I do not condone her behaviour at all it seems that she is just not suited to the environment of learning in school ad is not helpfull to the other students. She has demonstrated that away from the classroom she is perfectly capable of learning - how many 15 year olds are able to do book keeping?

It seems to me that this archaic view of one style of learning for all needs to change and we need to understand that everyone has different learning styles. By the age of 14 most have learned the basics in English and maths etc and may excel much better in a working/hands on environment.

My partner is 31 now and he grew up in Portugal and also struggled with schooling and learned very little, he was better with his hands and on the job learning. When he came to England he only knew the word hello and within a year was fluent in the language. He also worked for a fascia company and learned how to become a fitter and now manages one of their depots. Last year he took the decision to start evening school and has just passed four English exams.
I have another cousin who is now 28 and allot of money was spent on his private education and he done very well in school but is now a postman...

I agree that education is importand but it is more important that those who are not academic are offered other options, apprenticeships are evenn hard to come by these days. You can always return to the education system later as my partner did, when he was more focused, committed and ready to deal with the classroom style. Education from school doesnot neccessarily make you a "smart person" and does not always mean the pathway to a good career.

Just wondered what others thought on this topic, or if they had any similar experience.

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