ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Raising of school leaving age

When we go to school, we learn many different things! We learn how to read, write, do math, and learn about the world around us. When we reach a certain age, we get to leave school and move on to other things, like jobs, further education or apprenticeships.

But sometimes, people think it's a good idea to make sure we stay in school for longer before we go out into the big wide world. This is called raising the school leaving age.

It means that instead of leaving school at 16-years-old, we might have to stay until we're 18-years-old. That means we get extra time to learn more things and become more prepared for our future.

This might sound like a drag – staying in school for longer? Ugh! – but there are actually a lot of good reasons why we might want to do this. For one thing, lots of jobs these days require more education than just a high school diploma. So, if we want good jobs, we need to stay in school longer to learn the skills that will help us get them.

Also, staying in school longer can give us more time to figure out what we want to do with our lives. Sometimes, we might not be sure what we want to do when we're 16, and by staying in school for longer, we can explore our options more and figure out what we really want to do.

Lastly, staying in school can help us become better people! We can learn how to make good decisions, how to be responsible, and how to work well with others. All of these skills are really important for when we become adults and have to navigate the world on our own.

So, even though it might sound strange to stay in school for longer, it can actually be a really good thing for us!