John is a member of YI and has worked as a researcher in the European Parliament.

I came by a staggering statistic a few days ago, Roughly 48 percent of prisoners in the UK today are functionally illiterate (Shannon Trust/Home Office).

Staggering. Over 760,000 young people are unemployed today and the number who are illiterate is unknown, how many of those young people will one day turn to crime in order to live? Recently The Mail on Sunday gave an insight to what we would call “hoodies” and their struggle to live day to day. Mr Cameron, it is not about “hug a hoodie” but perhaps “prevent a hoodie”.

How to we do this? I believe the fault lies in our Education system, for too long, the comprehensive school system has failed our youth, too many targets, too many examinations (and weak ones at that too) and also far too much emphasis on Further education and Universities. New Labour was all about “Education, Education, Education” but this was nothing more than an empty soundbite. 12 years of Labour Government and we are nowhere nearer to solving the problem.

Let me “beef up” this issue. The statistics show that a large proportion of principly low-income families and their siblings leave school with relatively few or no qualifications at all. Their lack of reading and writing skills are an embarrasment to the Education system, let alone their social skills. As much as most of us would like to clip these “toerags” behind the ear, they are not the problem as I have already highlighted. So what happens next for these early school leavers? How do they sustain themselves? Simple, they turn to petty crime, and lash out at Society because we have failed them. Slap them with and ASBO? It’s a trophy to them, a badge of honour, and simply is not the solution. Drugs is a “good earner” for them, that’s why they deal it, it allows them to stay alive and pay the rent. Of course, many of them end up in prison usually the first of many terms inside.

Prisons do offer GCSE’s, A-levels and even degrees, but firstly, they must be able to read and write, and that takes years. Lets take an example, if an 18 year old was sentenced to a prison term of 10 months for drug offences, teaching them to read and write may be a smart move, but it takes longer than 10 months to learn to read and write. By the time their 10 months is up, they won’t have completed their training, and are back into the real world. A criminal record will not look good on a job application and their reading and writing skills aren’t up to scratch, so its back to a life of petty crime. I am not merely pointing out the failures of the prison system of education, but also the lack of proper punishment, if prison doesn’t stop them, what will? Quite frankly the current system is too fragmented and essentially it doesn’t work.

Do you see my point? So what is the answer – I’m sure many of us have different ideas, however, the UK Independence Party has the best solution in my opinion.

Remember what I said before, the fault lies in our Education system. UKIP advocates the abolition of Comprehensive Education, and the return of Grammar Schools and Secondary Modern Schools. Why? Because it offers a fairer choice of Education according to individual abilities. Quite often you will find that classroom “disruptors” are those who either through choice or ability are not academic students. Therefore, they would be better off learning in a Secondary Modern School developing their Vocational skills while studying the three R’s. This will provide them the backbone of skills to find work in industries such as engineering, plumbing, Electricians and many more. Perhaps even setting up their own local business with Government support, providing a necessary and altogether quickly disappearing service to society. Most of all, it will give them purpose in life and keep them away from crime.

Lets not forget those who are academically gifted. Again either through choice or ability, they are given the best opportunity to develop their academic skills in Grammar Schools, and perhaps if they wish, go on to higher Education and University.

Essentially it is all about providing the right environment, give the child the best surroundings and they will utilise it, develop themselves and make a success of themselves.

What we must also do is reduce the emphasis on academic education, quite simply not everyone is excited by academia, infact first year University dropouts are at an all-time high, the cost to the taxpayer and debts for the young person give them what I would describe the worst start in life. University should be reserved for those who deserve it. Harsh as it may sound, but if you don’t make the grade, you don’t get in,and that should be the case. Too often today, the PC brigade likes to allow “inclusion” and with standards slipping, too many young people are going to university without the propers skills to attain a degree.

Therefore a Grammar School system would provide the right background and fairer options for young people to develop their strengths. Its about keeping them in education and primarily to get them properly ready for the real world. Perhaps then we can “prevent a hoodie” and save the “yoof” of tomorrow.