I think its great. British kids who leave early end up having babies themselves in order to make something of themselves. If they attend school and gain a good education they will be able to feel more comfortable in trying to make sure they can obtain a good carreer which in turn will mean less kids

sara, cheadle, uk

Leaving at in 2015, for one; you full well know it wont work because you've put the raising time up to what, 7 years from now? How do you think it is for students who get bullied? Another 2 years of abuse? Always thinking of ways to waste or make money.. Lets send the gov back to school shall we.

Niall, Swinton, UK

i left school when i was 68 !!! oh yh !!! school was the best time of my life!!! those fit guys wild parties and even better the amazing lessons !!! everyone should stay at school!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

bob, kingston, jamaica

I Left school when I was 17 during the summer holiday term since 1982 without any GCSE's & the subjects I was good at was maths,english & spelling & the reason why I stayed at school when I was 16 was to educate abit more so I went on to college for further education & workshop training.

Thomas kenny, Tullamore., Ireland.

I Left school when I was 17 during the summer holiday term since 1982 without any GCSE's & the subjects I was good at was maths,english & spelling & the reason why I stayed at school when I was 16 was to educate abit more so I went on to college for further education & workshop training.

Thomas kenny, Tullamore., Ireland.

I left school last year,I left at the the end of 5th year to go to college.This was the worst decision i've made because i really hate college and dont like it one bit.I tried to get back in school back in October there and they said it was too late.I've got to say thought the Guidence at school's these days(relating to my school) is appauling they dont give you any advice,they dont help you in anyway and are always giving negative feedback instead of focusing on the good points of an individual.These guidence people get paid extra for doing nothing and something has to be done about it because all they do is try and push you away from school and get you to leave instead of helping you with the problems in the school.I had no idea what i wanted to do and at the vital time i had no support from the guidence from my school which lead me to the wrong decision.What they should've done is sit down with each individual and talk to them about what is best for them.

Jamie , Scotland,

i think this is unfair....if teenagers want to leave then they should just be able to leave..and anyway most teenagers do stay on because they want to and it is their own decisions...what is the point in forcing us to stay on and shoving knowledge down our throats...if kids are not interested then they should be able to go because there isn't much you can do about. leave teenagers alone and let us control our own futures and make our own decisions.

Jess, Edinburgh, UK

what a surprise, labour goverment doing it 'the american way.'
we may aswell make a bridge between the two countries and just call ourselves united kingdom of america.
it should be OPTIONAL if they wish to stay on, and i believe quite a few will, but if you want to leave, then leave. instead of going to college at 16 they'll stay in a place they know with their friends with teachers they know. if they werent going to college anyway, they probably wont stay but some might.
i think its a basic breach of rights and trying to control teenagers instead of letting them grow up and make their own decisions.

C. Padden, swindon,

my son who turned 17 in september wanted to stay at school and go in the 6th form he was told he was not clever enough they said it would be a waste of time. He wanted to do resits if he got low grades so were is the sence in saying now all children are going to be fined if they dont stay at school. Dose this mean schools will allow pupils to stay even if they not in the brainy bracket.

elizabeth, newark, nottinghanshire

I'm about to sit my GCSE's... And I find those labels offensive... So class me, am I the 'Angry young rebel' or the 'Quitter' ?? Its a pathetic attempt for the government to try to keep us in school when we can easily just raise the standards of the school environment and the standards of teaching... Not everyone is academic, so just using this method will simply pour more frustration into the less academic people. So all in all, it will end up with more truanting problems, more alienation for the less academic folk and more 'angry young rebels'. Think about it... Just like they tell us in school.

Jake, Brirmingham, UK

How STUPID! I'm just about to leave school and I feel for the the kids who have to stay on. And before you say I'm a 'cool dude' I'm on all A's! So how much are the government going to keep raising the age until you can leave school? It'll leave children frustrated with all the pressures for an added 2 YEARS... Kids want to grow up not feel restricted. That was even proven! The original system works well, people who don't want to go to college just end up in a normal job and it helps the community as a whole because then you have people working! Which means more things get done. Instead of raising the age raise the standard. Then the people who don't do so well in school may have more of a chance. Listen to the kids for once!

Jake, Brirmingham, UK

THIS IS ABSOLUTELY CRAZY!!! My little cousin will be a criminal for having a day off school cause hes sick too many times! This government is messed up! I'm moving to Scotland. At least they have some sense.
This is all SO offensive. I'm not an 'angry young rebel!' Is that how the government sees teenagers like me nowadays?!!!!!? I'm voting another party other than this psycho one. You've turned me into an 'angry young rebel' by doing this you see. How PATHETIC. You're out of you're heads!
Try getting us out of school earlier so we can get a job. Then we'll be able to grow out of our shell a little bit?!! Or would you class me as a 'rebel without a cause'??!! And how can you even class someone as a 'rebel without a cause' when they want to get a job. ITS A GOOD THING!

Jake, Brirmingham, UK

THIS IS ABSOLUTELY CRAZY!!! My little cousin will be a criminal for having a day off school cause hes sick too many times! This government is messed up! I'm moving to Scotland. At least they have some sense.
This is all SO offensive. I'm not an 'angry young rebel!' Is that how the government sees teenagers like me nowadays?!!!!!? I'm voting another party other than this psycho one. You've turned me into an 'angry young rebel' by doing this you see. How PATHETIC. You're out of you're heads!
Try getting us out of school earlier so we can get a job. Then we'll be able to grow out of our shell a little bit?!! Or would you class me as a 'rebel without a cause'??!!

Jake, Brirmingham, UK

As a young person about to sit their gcses i find these labels very offensive! I mean the government needs to relise that some young people just don't want to stay in education. Maybe if they improved the curriculum, stopped putting pressure on us and made our lessons enthustiatic maybe we'd have a reason to commit to our education! Some people arn't academic :) simple

Natalie Turner, Plymouth,

A pitiful attempt at the government trying to keep people in school for the sake of keeping the unemployment statistics lower. Eventually it will become mandantory for current students to attend university. That will result in qualifications being useless (this situation is already arisen) and eventually unemployment levels will rise to alltime high. This new bill is nothing but the snobbishness of middle-class politicians.

Leigh Abbott, Saint Helens, England

The labour government don't seem to have realized that there aren't that the majority of jobs dont require higher education , they also mention a global economy based around knowledge what good is knwledge if we dont apply it to a trade we should have more electricians ,architects ,engineers , mechanics ,factory workers etc and less bureaucrats ,lawyers etc.

Richard, Workington, UK

as we have allready left shcool we think its unlucky on the people that have to stay till they are 18!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

emy n lottie, nantwich,

this should not happen this should never happen children have to stay on anyway till ther 16 !16! why ? It should be lowered so they can earn a living at a younger age!!
IT IS A DISGRACE!!

Russell B., manchester, england

I think it might work, i mean most kids don't go to school because they don't have to. maybe if they have to go they might find they enjoy it.

Zoe, Horsham,

It seems our country is not free speach anymore..
It has become the big brother watching you...
There are problems with the students now finding school hard...and boring....and not attending....
raising the age to leave to 17-18 will only create more problems....
I agree to send them in to some form of training straight from school..at 16 may be till 18.......and pay them a wage to keep them there..but at least it will be what they want to do..to make it more intersting to keep them there....
Chatting to students about this subject of raising school age..i see the governments plan not to be as easy as they think..............

jackie, london,

This is not the right way of doing it, by enforcing it so harshly it will only make people rebel against it more. Instead it should be made more appealing to stay on via courses that are actually useful.

I went to college, it was a total waste of time for me, since none of the courses are related to my current area of study. I left halfway with only AS levels, worth nothing. I am starting University this year, this is possible since I put the effort in to learn the subject myself. Not from colleges, vocations or mentoring. If primary-secondary education was improved then less people would drop out anyway.

Fredex, Uxbridge,

this is outragous you can't keep children in school for that long no matter what you do the minority will want to go and it just wont work whatever happened to being free

Jonas, Bromham, Wiltshire

We actually have a teacher stating that history is a useless subject. I wonder how old that teacher is and where she was educated. Sorry I do not wish to be abusive.

Wilf Bell, Camberley, England

kids that are 16 or younger should not be aloud to drop out of school!! i am in the 7th grade and i have to do a report about any thing that we wanted to and i picked this and i have more than 10 pages why kids should not be allowed to drop out and i think that the parntets of them kids should have a sa of what their kids do in their life!! all i know is that me and my friends are not going to drop out of school we are going to finshi school and then go to collage so there is some good news to some peps out their

brooke , wollcottville, in

What a great idea! Force kids to stay in a dead-in-the-water education system for longer, getting even more disillusioned and fed-up, only to then plunge them into the job market where no-one will pay them what their teachers will tell them they're worth. President Blair has spent too much time looking west to America and has failed to see the problem - namely that our education system is hopelessly failing. This is an even more hair-brained idea than lottery allocations for school places.

Is it any wonder that a degree isn't worth what it was a decade ago? The dumbing down of GCSE's and A/AS-Levels has created a group of qualifications that no employers can take seriously any more, as they're virtually given away now. Maybe the Government should address this issue before forcing kids to stay on when they just want to gain some independence and earn a few quid.

Whatever happened to freedom of choice? After sixteen, you should be able to do what you want.

NJ, Derby, Derbyshire

Before the Government can force young people, often disengaged, excluded or bored, to stay in education they need to focus on getting "education" and schooling right. There are huge flaws in our current education system which are often responsible for the disengagement and attitude of pupils who otherwise could be fully participating learners.
Anomalies, inconsistency, lack of consideration and poor facilities often lead to keen young people becoming "educational rebels". It is time the Government and other professionals listened carefully to young people many of whom come into the education system full of hope and enthusiasm only to have it dampened, and often killed off completely. Simply raising the school leaving age will not address many of the fundamental problems that exist within the education system in Britain today.

Catherine Fleming, Weymouth, UK

Just what the country needs - more 17 year olds racking up debt taking pointless college courses in 'Media and Texting Studies'. Meanwhile, we carry on importing plumbers, brickies, carpenters etc from eastern Europe.

Mary, London , England

The Labour Govt has lost it! The Left always resort to statist compulsion when they fail to deliver the social aspirations they dream about. People have to be empowetred to want to do things themsleves not directed by Stalinist orders. If Brown got in all this would become even more extreme.

Matt

matt wright, Denbigh, North Wales

I have a small engineering business and employ an apprentice, the government gives me no funding towards his wages, I pay his tuition fees at college and all other costs. Luckily I chose an apprentise who is quick to learn and has ambition.
Then this fascist government is going to force more apprentices on me and if I don't accept them I will be commiting an offence.
This just smacks of the government getting out of paying dole and other benefits and employers having to pick up the tab again.
Minimum wage, regulation, corporation tax increasing for small business's and now enforced employment.
What chance does anyone stand of making a go at a business any more

N Morgan, York, UK

The balance of opinion seen in these comments speaks volumes. These people are in touch with reality. Clearly the Government isn't. Efforts should be put into the right balance of education from the start rather than trying to fix it at the end.

C.B, Essex, UK

The green paper describes people who play truant as cool dudes, rebellious. Rubbish I played truant from school due to bullying, and saw other people doing the same. It misses out on the victims of bullying who are too terrified to go to school, but the school does nothing about. What about abuse victims, people who might be having a trouble with a teacher, people with mental illness issues. People with care concern issues. Are they really going to be helped by a criminal record?
People will get a criminal record for not attending work. Would that ever be acceptable in adulthood. It is not tough love, it is vindictive and cruel. People have killed themselves already because of schools being too strong on the truancy law. This will not help anyone. If people are not going to school it is often because of the school, but the school will not tell judge or court that. We won't have Kavanagh QC to make sure the court only gives bad people a a criminal record. This policy lacks empathy.

R Smith, Conwy, UK

So what have they achieved up to now? With the persistent interference by government in matters of education, the ground rules being changed for no good reason, and here in Suffolk, the closure of "Middle schools"....I read earlier when this latest crack brained scheme was first proposed that exclusion from prolonged education would be granted to those who were pregnant !!! more fodder for the "Vicky Pollard brigade methinks...
Hard luck on the teaching profession who will have to pick up the pieces when this latest piece of nonsense come into being........

mick enright, ipswich, suffolk

Back to the future
Most 'disaffected', not my adjective, youngsters are desperate for inclusion for a wide variety of reasons. This government seems only to come up with more and more new proposals to exclude them, for instance, asbo's, Now lets criminalise non attendees of education, not such good news when you finally apply for a job.
What is actually wrong with letting bored youngsters leave school earlier, say at 14 years, by 20 years they could well have six years of work experience behind them and some well earned maturity. Alternatively, lets keep them in school, against there wishes, (mind they could probably pull out the 'magical covers all ' human rights card to escape. Then theres the prospect of scheme after scheme after scheme until at twenty six they've only ever been with their peers and are still as immature as they were ten years earlier.

M.Fraser, Darlington,

Upping the school leaving age is a farce. I work with disengaged and often criminal young people who have not yet reached sixteen.

If anything, the school age should be lowered so that 14 year olds can go to work and earn money legally.

This would prevent alot of the boredom related crime that youngsters commit because they would have the money to do other activities. (Such as catch over priced privatised busses or go to a local ppi sports centre..)

In my professional role I will fight hard against measures such as this for the sake of the young people it will negatively effect.

P, Manchester, UK

I think that raising the mandatory school leaving age to 18 is absolutely ridiculous and criminalising children who fail to attend nothing short of scandalous!
Not all children who leave school at 16 are on the road to a future of ASBO's, but this will certainly lead to many more!
All children learn differently and many are just not academic. This leads to misery in the classroom and higher truancy and drop-out rates, as the education system is not designed to allow for different styles of learning. Many 'under-achievers' or classroom 'trouble-makers' are just children who cannot fit the mould. More money should be injuected into providing small groups for less-academic children who can be taught in a way suited to them allowing them to foster other skills and equip them to gain qualifications and be able to find employment and further training, rather than be put off education for life! Please stop this lunacy!

Jane, Tenterden, Kent

I'm worried by this. As far as I am aware most post age-16 courses require Students to attend 98% of the time and PASS regular grading exams. If they do not they are summarily kicked off their course without any leave of appeal. The consequences of being kicked off the course under this new Regime would mean that students could end up in Prison because they are not bright or able enough to pass an exam or take just 1 day too many off sick say.
That's sheer lunacy!
What next - transportation to Australia for walking on the cracks in the pavement?

Bry Barnes, Somerset, Uk

Is it not time that someone, somewhere started to educate the children of this country that school is the beginning of your life, whatever you do and learn will form the basis of your future, life,career...or do they do that now ?

COLIN STANSBIE, portland,

Im 17 and I quit college 3 weeks after joining for the highest course possible at the college.

If they want the clever people to stay on, they need to provide alternative methods of learning at our level than wasting 2 years of our life with people who are less capable, just to get into uni.

All the unionists care about is UCAS points and progression, well I tell you something, I won't be going back to college where I had more experience than the tutors, and I won't be going to university where they ignore students with potential.

The government want people to stay on, they need to improve their educational system rather than criminalise people who are fed up of it.

Adam K Dean, Manchester,

Where will the Teachers come from?

derek bevan, Huntingdon/Cambs, England?UK

16-18 year olds of the future should be able to make their own choices and given the same respect for free will that they have now. We may not like those choices, but they are individual choices and the individual either benefits or loses by them. Society can oblige members to obey basic rules of conduct (do not steal, do not kill) but it should not force us to improve our productivity or earning potential for the greater good. There are other measures of success - happiness, fulfilling relationships, creativity, entrepreneurship. We cannot all fit into the mould of the perfect citizen in order to create a perfect society and economy.

The direction this government is taking us in is truly terrifying. Just wait for this register of children to be linked to the NHS IT system, the passports system, and who knows what else, and see what will happen to our children - tagged and monitored like cattle. This is utterly utterly wrong.

Alison, London, UK

Forcing 16 - 18 year olds to continue school is absolutely crazy. They could be married by then, and/or be parents. One disgruntled pupil who doesn't want to be there is going to disrupt the education of all of those who do want to be there. As for making it a criminal offence? Would this be applied to all truants? The Police don't have time to investigate burglaries or car crime [unless you are a speeding motorist] so are they going to come out with pepper spray, riot gear, and handcuffs to force these boys back into school? [They are usually the ones disrupting classes they don't want to do now, not being sexist.]
My eldest grandson at 23, married a 16 year old. At 17 she has a baby. He works hard to support them. Would she be made to put her child in a Nursery to go back to school? Bring back apprenticeshiops and let the non academics earn their keep. We will still need dustmen, street cleaners, labourers etc. They don't need 'A'levels and a degree . They can go to Night School.

B.P.Russell, Windsor, England

I certainly don't think that forcing young people into a particular path through their teenage years is the answer. At the end of the day, with the right attitude and inspiration a teenager in the workplace can rise through the ranks and be doing well for themselves before their educated peers have finished getting themselves into debt at university! Different people have different styles of learning and living, whether from books, on-the-job training or hands-on courses.

I think some people (Mike - take note) forget that young people are generally far more tolerant and aware than many adults, and that we (I'm nineteen) are not all louts and drop-outs. I am polite and hard-working, have a job, and am trying to find my way through higher education right now. This government has pushed people like me into university as the only way into a decent job, and now, despite having always been a top student, I feel both trapped and disillusioned.

What has the world come to?

Eleanor, York, England

The saying "You can lead a horse to water but you can't make it think" is about to be replaced by "You keep a child in school until 18 but you can't make it think."

RAS, Bloomfield Hills, MI, USA

Looking back, I knew i wanted to do A levels after GCSE because i knew Alevels meant University. not everyone has that forsight granted but knowing what it takes to get to the next level and what needs to be done to acheive it is so important. Not knowing where you're going at an early age can be daunting and will have a negative effect. Offering useless courses to people who HAVE made up their minds is just as ridiculous as offering the same courses to those who dont know. I knew i wanted Alevels and uni but still had to do CDT,Science and German. I got B's in all of them but that has no relevance now. Cant speak a word of German, can just about follow an IKEA instruction book and have no interest in scientific jobs. More vocational/practical lessons are far more beneficial. Those of a work minded nature should be introduced at an early age to Business and IT.

Adam, London, UK

Well well , the politburo has come home to roost. This is a completely outrageous idea and should not be applied without a referendum, this is a typical example of control freaks gone crazy, the we know better than you thicko's bunch.
People should be encouraged to stay on in education, by using the money which will be spent on the bureaucratic control as a carrot for students. The system is over educating people who take up positions that do not require the level of education stated. It is used as a means of filtering as management do not have the skills to do it themselves. When I was in the civil service and up for promotion I was required to go for further qualification to enable me to advance, the qualification did not need to be related to the post , for instance a friend of mine gained a pass at the Open University in Maths for promotion in Management, he got the promotion but was one of the worst managers of people and resources you could ever meet. There are a lot like that.

Dave Madley, Alicante, Spain

Yet children who happen to be carers will have no right to stay on till18 and will not be prosecuted for leaving education. They have a more important job to do, saving the government millions of pounds in care costs looking after sick mums and dads instead of having a life. Well done Labour!

David Blamires, Keighley,

How is the government intending to force 18 year olds to attend school when it cannot even "encourage " under 16year olds to attend?

Yet another device to keep the unemployment statistics down .

Howard , Milton Keynes , UK

This is a recipe for disaster - I have been a high school teacher for the past 30 years and I believe that a number of students would be ,and are,better off in a work place traineeship or apprenticeship rather than playing up like second - hand lawnmowers because they are bored faeces - less by school!
Whoever thought of this madness should be forced to spend a week with these students and their poor teachers.They would quickly change their minds about extending school to eighteen years.
Look around a some of the youth who currently attend our schools.
The best experiences they have are lunchtime and the end-of-day bell which signals time to go home.

Eddie Keane, Brisbane, Qld.,Australia

"Well Tracey, You're 17 tomorrow. Your husbands in the bookies, both your kids are in bed with colds and you're telling me you've got turn up for school today or the Government's going to fine you. All I can say is thank God the worlds not gone mad." Love Dad xx

Les, Reading, England

As a responsible, dedicated parent who has chosen to home-educate my children I would like to correct the glaring error in this article. Parents do not automatically, 'face criminal prosecution if they fail to ensure a child under 16 goes to school' but according to Section 7 of the Education Act have every right to educate their child otherwise than at school, to a standard relative to his age, ability and aptitude. It is misleading sweeping statements such as this which scare parents and make them unaware of their rights.

hannah, ashby, leics

So when the hard core abstainers are finally punished enough that they drag themselves into a classroom what will this achieve? What will they learn? Nothing at all. Maybe they could start fining pupils who get poor exam results as well. After the baby gurgling curriculum Labour are really on a roll now. We have years left of this madness people.

John, London, UK

I'm currently at sixth form college and one of the aspects I love about it is that we're treated in a far more adult way, simply because it's "our choice to be there". It's so nice being in a class of people who actually want to learn and have at least a vague interest in the subject, rather than constantly being disrupted by those who are just out to beat the system and can't wat to get out. Although obviously not all people who currently drop out at 16 will carry on to A-level, I can imagine lots will, simply as that's where their social groups will move to, and they can't think of anything better.

Similarly what would the policy be on removing people from courses? The current system means institutions can easily kick people out who don't acheive or have a bad attitude. I can see this becomming as difficult as it is to expel pupils from secondary schools, as they have to be in "education" somewhere.

Sounds like another rash, badly thought through plan to me.

Mike Blitz, Winchester, UK

Many people commenting on this article seem to be forgetting that modern apprenticeships would also count as "training", for those people who don't want to be cooped up in a classroom, so raising the age of leaving education (which is not necessarily school) is a great idea for raising the skills of people in this country, not just in an academic sense.

Sassy made a great suggestion about giving people a choice between these training options and some kind of National Service. Maybe the Government should have considered something like that - you'd still have plenty of choice then, and it wouldn't reduce armed forces recruitment. In fact, I still think there's plenty of choice given without National Service. Think about all of the options there are in education! You can still go to work and learn (apprenticeship), stay in school or go to college. There are many things I don't support the Government on, but I think this is one of their brighter ideas.

Gemma, Derby, UK

Yet another control freak scheme to criminalise people.
I didn't want to stay on at school when i was 16, but I went back into education in my 30's to get a first class honours degree.
New labour have meddled and tweaked the education system to such a point that it has fallen apart.
Now they say the Key Stage system is harmful to children. People were telling them that years ago, yet they refused to listen.
Does anyone remember the Conservatives anti Blair campaign during a general election where it showed Blair with red glowing eyes, implying he was 'evil'. They had to withdraw the posters .... do you know what, I wonder if someone had a premonition, because the way this govenment are laying laws down to make criminals of ordinary and decent folk, yet the real criminals get the softly softly approach, makes me wonder!!

Ivor Bentown, Herts,

Slow stream students should do a literacy and numeracy test as 15. Then they should have the options to stay on for 2 years and do O levels at 17, joining fast stream students in sixth form a year later if sucessful. Or they should be allowed to go for a 3 year training contract job, or military training, or voluntary service, or other constructive activities. Staying idle shouldn't be an option, but it shouldn't be backed by criminal sanctions. That's the route to a totalitarian state. Simply ban dead-end jobs for under 18s, and pay no benefits.

Malcolm McLean, Bradford, UK

Why does every Government policy now involve on the spot fines? Why not just close the courts down and destroy our legal rights altogether? They seem determined to create as many 'criminals' as possible. New Labour now lies somewhere between authoritarianism and fascism. God help us all.

dave, cannock, UK

This is imprisonment of other human beings in incompetently run institutions. In fact such incarceration is surely against human rights.

But what can you expect from a goverment which wickedly invades and bombs another country into a gruesome anarchy?

Ecapist, rebels and cool dudes are preferable indoctrinated clones.

Lois Crofton, Worthington, Leicestershire

If they've had enough, they've had enough. No amount of legislation and criminalisation will make someone a better student or a better prospect in the classroom. Far more viable for a national economy is to recognise that there are many pathways to success, adulthood and productive citizenship then something that focuses on academic results and an arbitrary age barrier. Encouragement, not disparagement is a key to a future functioning society.

Geraldine Connor, Brisbane, Australia

Some politicians seem to lose the power of thought after election just to get that media sound bite. What are we going to do cuff them to their desks, what complete rubbish.

Seamus, London,

The money would be better spent addressing the reasons why we have quitters etc at 16. Not enough time or moneyh is spent on children who don't fit "the norm". The answer is far from another two years in education.

Joyce, Warwickshire,

Crackers and crazy...Pupils that stay on at 16 do so because they want to learn. If those pupils who want to leave at 16 aren't interested in learning then doesn't it make sense that they will be disruptive to the other pupils that are around them. Teachers already face too much indiscipline in school as it is, now the Govt. are adding to it.
If a child leaves at 16, then they should do for an apprenticeship (what happened to those eh?) or even for the armed services. We have enough part time work on the go working in supermarkets etc, without school leavers adding to the problem.

kirk, Rotherham, UK

One phrase says it all "the next generation of workers ", that is how this stalinist group of control freeks view the population of this country; we are not individuals with the God given right to chose, but pawns to be directed.
I can not wait for the day that this lot are voted out of office and dread the interim under Commissar Brown.

John Lewis, Upminster, UK

This is finally a sensible measure to be taken by the government. The next generation will need skills and technological knowledge to survive in the changing global community. At the very least they shoud be able to read and write. Lets commend the government for once! The next step they should take, is to raise the age of marriage and then truly our youth will have opportunities unique to their generation. They will have to engage their minds and actually do something useful. Who knows maybe this might even go in some to deal with the whole 'hoodies' problem we have in our society today.

Shrina, Chislehurst,

This idea is crazy. Holding those youngsters in school who do not want to be there will only affect those who do want to be there. The increase in school leaving age from 15 to 16 was meant to solve the same problems, clearly it didn't.

Also how are these 18 year old supoose to gain insight into the world and be reay to vote if the are in an enclosed enviroment such as school that treats them like kids.

Let those who wish to leave go and ensure we have proper training available in the real world for life. Everyone from Shopgirls to Street cleaners should be apprenticed and maybe we will get some youngsters who can give the right change from a fiver without using their fingers or looking at the till for help.

Alan jefferies, Gillingham , Kent

I have never heard such rubbish in my life, oh wait yes I have, ever since Labour came into power there has been nothing but pathetic ideas from these idiots. Can they find nothing better to do with their time, try catching real criminals and putting them away instead. If they get into power next election I am skipping country to somewhere that isn't run by monkeys and that is a major insult to monkeys.

Tricia Batley, Boston, Lincs

Criminalising the youth is definitely not the answer. Many of those who drop out do so because they can't afford to stay in education - EMA doesn't cover all those who need it. Criminalise them and they will find it even harder to find jobs to sustain themselves - leading to more "bored youth" on the streets.
Another reason people stay out of further education is the academic levels of even the vocational courses. I'm told those on the marine engineering course around here can hardly see the engines through the piles of paperwork! Not quite the practical course which would appeal to the non-academic.

Meg, Pembs,

i dont think it is a good idea, i think it is time that the system was completely changed and if they plan on making them stay until 18 i think they should delay the start of education. it will just delay maturity and dealing with responsibility for another decade. what about the parents? if the system was adequate i wouldn't have to spend up to 3/4 hours a day making sure my children are able to read and do basic maths. it seems my life consists of making sure my children are making up lessons at home for the gaping holes left by todays system, even to the point i am attending maths and english gcse one day a week in order to understand it more. crazy, absolutely crazy.

jane, nottingham, uk

Instead of forcing these "yoofs" to stay in school - just give them a choice of either full time education or a form of National Service.

The latter will (hopefully) teach them respect of authority and self-discipline as well as addressing the UK's falling recruitment issues into the armed forces.

Some might become career soldiers and others would be given the opportunity to learn a trade. This is a "win-win" solution and I cannot see how anyone can lose.

The spin-off benefit is that those who remain in school are those who really want to learn and will not be disruptive influences on other students (as well as giving teachers a hard time).

Sassy, Scotland,

First they bore kids rigid with "teaching to test", then they force them into demeaning categories, now they want to make anyone who doesn't fit the mould into a criminal.

Wouldn't it be simpler if our police-state Government just declared that being a teenager is illegal, and gaoled everyone under the age of 20?.

Allan Dare, Cromford, Derbyshire , England

As a teacher, I think too many non-academic pupils are forced to stay on and take GCSEs that they won't need and don't want. Most pupils will end up taking useless GCSEs in history, art, design and technology etc to fill up their timetables. They end up frustrated and difficult to teach. Many of year 11 have already mentally 'checked out' of school and there are still weeks of term-time left.
Schools should focus on teaching basic literacy and numeracy to all pupils. GCSEs should only be compulsory in the basic skills subjects, and on top of that pupils should be able to choose GCSE or vocational training, either in school or at college. This would mean that some pupils would start college at 14 - exactly when many of them become dissatisfied and restless.
England is going to create a nation of criminals with another ASBO style punishment. Wales's 'Learning Pathways' scheme looks to be far nore flexible. Diolch byth dwi'n dysgu ynh Nghymru! (Thank God I teach in Wales!)

Rebecca, North Wales, Wrexham

So disruptive school students will suddenly become model college students. Is this not just a little unrealistic? If some are compelled by law to attend college, I pity the ernest students who are trying to study a subject they have chosen and are interested in.

Jack, London,

This government should be ashamed of themselves. This is just another scheme to create more jobs for useless civil servants and yet again getting money out of people - now children, by fining them!!! We would be better served if these politicians all went back to school!

K Law, Leicester, UK

I want to see all young people undergo a period of training in an "outward bound" type of environment for three months, in which they can learn some basic skills, how to gain and give respect, how to understand different ethnic and social backgrounds, how to be reliable and responsible, and so on. The state would pay for this, and yes, it would cost a fortune. But how much is anti-social behaviour costing this country - and its reputation abroad? I reckon many kids would welcome being given some guidance.

Mike Mitchell, SPalding, England

Absurd! We are slowly becoming communistic. Individuals are no longer left to make choices for themselves, government has to make them all. Big governments DON'T WORK!! Some 16 year olds are better in apprenticeships rather than continuing formal education. It is mind boggling what the government thinks......... or do they?

Richard, Chislehurst, London

For an ex post man Alan Johnson has managed quite well on state education that you could leave at 15!

This again says more about ten years of Labour that education under their reign requires a measure like this.
If they haven't learnt to read, write and do simple maths by the age of sixteen another two years will not help.

Artisan apprenticeships and manufacturing industry requires good workers, but what am I saying we lost those years ago.

Another bullet for Cameron to fire.

Jimmy, York, UK

I feel that the best way to help the education system is to make those who do not perform satisfactorily for their ability repeat that academic year. Similar systems are in place elswhere and it can help to prevent those who continually mess around through their last few years at school which is a huge frustration for fellow pupils. If they know they could potentially be put back year after year and prolong the agony of being at school they may just work that bit harder.

Aaron Lang, Loughborough, UK

This is lunacy - what is the point of criminalizing children into education? If theyr'e disaffected now they'll be even more so at 18. Keep 'em on, force them into uni and then into debt. There are some pupils for whom school/college is aturn-off and they will make everyones lives a misery if they have to stay on. Maybe we should be asking why education is so undervalued. This is on eof the most dictatorial Governments I can remember - the need for control of every aspect of our lives becomes worse every day. And where does the money come from?

Carole, London, UK

My son doesn't fit in to any of those government categories and I'm sure neither so lots of teenagers. My son is well educated and self teaching and is thriving away from the school system.

This government is not even bothering to disguise its aims any more - total control of each individual.

When they don't even think they need to be subtle about it, we know we're in trouble.

Michele, UK,

I'm actually getting scared now and will not be voting for Labour until they drop their dictatorship style of government, because that is where it is heading. Can anyone think of another chancellor who tried to take over the world? Clue: it begins with H.

LH, UK,

So now this crackpot government wants to give children a criminal record for missing lessons while doubtless adding their fingerprints and DNA to to some suspect data base. Surely even at this late date there must be something more sensible ministers could find to occupy their time

Simon Marshland, Bath, UK

Just when you think this government can't come up with any more mad ideas they prove you wrong. Creating criminals out of teenagers who choose not to learn will give them an even better start in life than they currently have. What about a carrot rather than a stick - I was at school when the school leaving age was raised from 15-16 and there was plenty of stick used then on lads who played truant, it didn't work then and it won't now. What a pity policy makers haven't learned anything in 30+ years. Cut their jobs and fat allowances if this is the best they can do.

Phil Duncan, London,

This idea is a nonsense. The cerebrally challenged aren't going to get it after age 16, and I'd put the age considerably lower. By then these kids are hulks of raging hormones, programmed by evolution to be out hunting mammoth and doing the territorial disputes prior to the Spring rut. It's always amazed me that so many young persons have been successfully "civilized".

Gerry, Crediton, devon uk

So Scottish Labour MPs have the right to imprison English youth. The takeover by the Scottish Raj is complete.
Does anyone else do it this way?

eddie reader, birmingham, uk

Kafka has arrived in Britain; soon anyone could be hauled in front of faceless bureaucrats, to answer charges which are not specified, to be cloned and rubber-stamped, printed and swabbed and transformed into cyber-dossiers stored in gloomy halls full of computers. After suitably obscure and arbitrary punishment of course.

RFID implants for all new-born babies, I say. That would cost so much less than the paraphernalia required for ID cards, and passport interviews.

And as for Mr Johnson's claim that it is "essential to ensure that the next generation of workers could compete in a knowledge-based global economy" - well for goodness sake, let's just clone the quotas of each worker category required for a fully functioning economy. And lobotomise them after birth, so that the spirit of awkwardness and rebellion is eradicated.

Michael Deman, Cairo,

Teachers cannot physically defend themselves against unwilling older pupils now so what hope when they are two years older?

And where is the money to come from?

And if they can't be taught to read by 16 then how will they be taught to read in the extra two years.

Brian Gilbert, HAMPTON, Middx

Let's hope they don't make this retrospective as a catchall for those who left ahead of the new requirement.

It would be an unnecessarily retrograde step to criminalise all those who chose to terminate their institutional scholastic environment early ahead of the new minimum age, especially if it were to include those pupils of long ago, perhaps no longer with us, who left early to take up a career in chimney soot management.

One notices a strange symmetry between the words 'minimum age' and 'minimum wage,' perhaps of a joined-up thinking nature.

dr venables preller, Wrminster, UK

Utter madness. We'll all move to Scotland...

Anne Barton, Valencia,

Good measures. It will keep the 'bored' youth off the streets and may, with the correct influences, guide them to be citizens who can help society instead of wilfully destroying it, as many do at the moment.

Peter Day, Doncaster, UK

Why don't they just put us all in Cages now? This country is becoming a lunatic asylum,presided over by dictatorial jobsworths.

Michael J Rigby, Blackburn, England

The Labour govt's thinking for the citizenz of whatever age seems so much like "IF it moves, Fine it" and make the person a 'criminal', so that their details can be put on the DNA register!! Soon it could be, when a child is born, start fining it straight away. Do we have any rights left?
We need to get our freedom back from this regime's thinking, sooner than later.

Arvin, Slough, UK