Students refuse to say “Goodbye Mr Chips” according to an article I read in the local paper (Cambridge Evening News) about a popular university tutor who’s being forced to retire. Students have been signing a petition and have set up a Facebook page to keep the tutor in his teaching position. I wondered as I read, what great crime has this man committed? What on earth would possess the university head honchos to get rid of someone as popular as this particular lecturer? Then all became clear. He has the audacity to turn 65 soon.
Default Retirement Age (otherwise known as the DRA). For some it’s a blessing that, quite frankly, can’t come quickly enough. Some of us will get to the age of 65 and be more than ready to do something else with their lives other than go to work every day. Retirement will be welcomed with open arms and big plans for the future. For others, though, it’s a curse. Who wants to be told when they’ve had enough? Who wants to be forcibly ejected from a job they’ve done, possibly for years, simply because there’s another candle on the birthday cake and someone who doesn’t know them and never will has decided that it’s time for them to retire, gracefully or otherwise?
Today’s news is that the Coalition government is planning a phased abolition of the Default Retirement Age. The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) welcomed the move saying that its abolition “could have a dramatic impact on the way older workers are perceived in the workplace, and on their ability to contribute their energy and experience to delivering on the business objectives of their employers."
The tutor I mentioned is just one of a long line of people who should not be retiring until they’re good and ready. The Default Retirement Age has had its day – it’s now time to let people choose for themselves – after all, they’re old enough to!
