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Education and Skills Bill

I support the intentions behind these amendments. It is quite clear that all of us have grave concern about what appears to be a compulsory system, possibly resulting in a criminal offence if there is failure to comply. Everything that noble Lords have said about the different stages, not ages, of development, including the very moving story of the noble Baroness, Lady Perry, is extremely relevant, as is the full horror and dislike of formal education felt by some students who have been failed. No doubt, to some extent they contributed to their failure, but with the handicap of having left primary school unable to read and then having failed for however long they stayed in secondary school, it is not surprising that they have no empathy with what was going on. I very much look forward to the Minister’s reply and hope that he has recognised the concern apparent in the stories we have been told.