Shoving paper into trash cans or shredding machines ... is what frequently happens WH Smith boss Richard Handover

Richard Handover, chief executive of WH Smith, said businesses had to do more to give teenagers a real taste of what the corporate world was like.

Speaking at a conference on business-education links Mr Handover said youngsters were often sidelined into "shoving paper into trash cans or shredding machines".

At the same conference, organised by Business in the Community, the School Standards Minister, David Miliband, said "boredom is the bane of education".

It was a major cause of rising disaffection between the ages of 11 and 14 - where the government is most concerned to raise standards.

Curriculum changes

Mr Handover's warning takes on added importance because the government is re-jigging the curriculum in England's secondary schools.

It is paring down the core subjects to allow more time for less academically-inclined children to do more vocational work, including going out to businesses.

Mr Handover said: "I would submit that the vast majority of children going on work experience have a pretty grim time and they don't experience work as we would like them to experience work.

"It's a real challenge for the business community to provide serious opportunities that allow children to engage in a positive way with what work feels like, not just get them shoving paper into trash cans or shredding machines, which is what frequently happens.

"There is a real challenge there."

The Confederation of British Industry said the quality of work experience was "patchy" rather than universally grim - but acknowledged that it was often viewed as a "bolt-on at the end".

Mr Miliband said imaginative teaching that kept pupils interested in subjects they considered relevant and worthwhile was the key to stopping the slide between 11 and 14.