Do not pass Go, do not receive an education, go straight to jail

Queen's Speech 'will raise school age to 18'

Ministers are set to raise the school leaving age in England to 18, triggering another devolution flashpoint with Scotland, where the legal age is to remain at 16. Teenagers south of the Border who leave school before 17 in 2013 or 18 in 2015 will face fines and ASBOs if they do not go into training or take up an apprenticeship, Ed Balls, the Schools Secretary, said yesterday.

What a perfect solution. Having failed these youngsters after having them for twelve years, full time, the answer is lock them in to the same system for another couple of years. Then, having utterly failed to deliver an education to them we are going to fine them, criminalize them and, eventually, imprison them. What a load of...Balls!