Nearly 1,000 Oldham Students will be forced to stay in school after 16 - Mark Alcock

12.00.00am UTC (GMT +0000) Fri 5th Sep 2008

New government plans, which will make it a legal requirement for young people to stay in school until they are 17, will lead to almost 1,000 Oldham Borough students being forced to remain in school every year.

"Lots of people at 16 and even younger don't like school and want to start work," says Liberal Democrat Oldham West & Royton Parliamentary spokesperson Mark Alcock.

"Forcing them to stay in school when they don't want to, is not good for them, and I believe they should be given the choice to stay in education or to leave".

Mark added, "The Government should spend the money on secondary education as it is, instead of forcing people to stay in education when they don't want to".

"Do the government really think that the students who don't want to continue in education, will work hard and achieve great things, I don't think so".

"This scheme will cost millions but will not achieve a great deal. There are excellent vocational courses at Oldham College, but students should go there because they want to, not because they are forced to, I believe that people achieve good results in life whether they are studying or working in their chosen fields. Not being forced to do something they don't want to".