A private British college is starting compulsory etiquette classes for 13- to 14-year-olds to sharpen up their comportment in a world of ill-mannered informality, it was reported on Wednesday.

Brighton College on the southern English coast will drill pupils on how to iron a shirt properly, dance the waltz, when to take off a jacket or go to the toilet, when to avoid talking at the dinner table and other finer points of etiquette.

Headmaster Richard Cairns decided it was time his pupils were taught a few lessons in good manners after learning that employers were dismayed by the numbers of undergraduates who were not equipped for the business world.

"In the past, they would have learned all of this at home," a spokesman for the fee-paying independent school said.

Each Thursday, pupils will be invited to dine at Cairns' house, where they will be taught how to deal with food they do not like, how to use the right cutlery and how to talk to fellow guests, among other tips.

"Each student will receive a formal invitation to which he will have to respond in a written formal manner and not by email, text message or phone," the spokesman said.

不拘禮節是現代社會的一大弊病。據本周三消息，英國一家私立學校將對十三四歲的學生開設“禮儀”必修課，以改善他們的行為舉止。

位于英格蘭南部沿海的布萊頓學院將對學生們進行各種禮儀培訓，其中包括怎樣熨襯衫、跳華爾茲、何時脫外套、何時去洗手間、在餐桌上何時不能說話等一些禮儀細節。

目前，一些公司老板認為很多大學畢業生缺乏應有的禮節知識。布萊頓學院的校長理查德•凱恩斯得知這一情況后，決定在低年級學生中開設禮儀課程。

該私立學校的一名發言人說：“過去，都是家長教給孩子們這些東西。”

每周四，學生們將應邀去凱恩斯校長家進餐，在那里，學生們將學到一系列餐桌禮儀，比如，遇到不喜歡吃的東西怎樣應付、如何正確使用餐具以及怎樣與其他客人交談等。

這位發言人說：“每名學生都會收到一封正式邀請函，而他們必須以正式的書面形式答復，不得發電子郵件、發短信或打電話。”