John, while I agree with you that we expect school leavers to leave school with basic literacy, I am not persuaded that your remedy would work. Just try keeping bored sixteen year olds under control in a classroom, so that the others can do their work. Many teenagers would be better off getting (some sort of) work experience rather than wasting theirs and the shcool's time in the classroom. We can not force people to become literate, but we can make them aware of the consequences of being illiterate. A year or two of cleaning toilets, digging trenches or mopping up vomit and excrement might help somw young people to understand what some of the possible alternatives to having an education are.