Students in NSW will stay at school until at least the age of 16 under legislation proposed by the State Government.

The Premier, Morris Iemma, plans to raise the minimum compulsory school age from 15 to improve students’ educational levels and their employment prospects.

The move would bring NSW more into line with leaving ages in other states and help the State Government lift school completion rates – a key target in the NSW State Plan.

Mr Iemma said while he “considered 16 to be the minimum leaving age” he was keeping an “open mind about whether it becomes 17 or 18”.

“This is about updating our education system. Higher education levels bring about greater social benefits,” he said.

“Out of 30 OECD countries, only Greece, Korea, Portugal and Turkey allow young people to leave education earlier than in NSW. Within Australia, only the ACT and Northern Territory continue to have a leaving age of 15.”

The Minister for Education and Training, John Della Bosca, has released a discussion paper on the proposed changes and encouraged public comment.

“We want to move to a leaving age of 16 as quickly as possible, we want to have a consultation with the whole community about what the proper leaving age for our school children should be,” Mr Della Bosca said.

A change in the minimum school leaving age would boost the numbers of students continuing formal schooling or involved in vocational training.

The education department’s director-general, Michael Coutts- Trotter, said raising the leaving age would be “an important step towards the NSW State Plan goal of lifting the number of young people successfully completing Year 12 or its equivalent to 90 per cent”.

He urged school communities throughout the state to take part in the public consultation process.

“The views and advice of parents and teachers will be invaluable to make sure that we put in place the best possible opportunities for our young people,” he said.

“Public schools serve the majority of those young people who are at greatest risk of dropping out early and your experience with, and advice on, how to help more young people succeed would be welcome.”

Research provided to the Premier’s office shows that increasing the leaving age would reduce the number of young people living in poverty or involved in crime.

Poverty rates among those aged 15 years and older also decline sharply as educational qualifications increase.

It is also estimated that increasing school retention by an extra 7,000 males in NSW would result in a reduction in break, enter and steal offences by almost 15 per cent in the course of a year.

The last increase in the minimum school leaving age in NSW was in 1943.