My grandfather was one of the most intelligent people I ever met, he was eloquent and very well read. He did well enough in his O-levels that his school strongly recommended he proceed to higher education. Unfortunately for him, he lived on a farm in rural Wales with seven siblings, and was forced by his parents to drop out of school at sixteen.

He spent the rest of his life as a agricultural worker, which, don't get me wrong, is an important and perfectly fine career, but it always struck me as a waste of potential.

The decision here to effectively deny education to certain children is criminal.