Borstal" plans for young offenders That doesn't make any sense to the taxpayer, or to the young people who we should be trying to get back on the straight and narrow. He added: "I want to see new models, perhaps something like secure colleges, providing education in a period of detention, rather than detention with education as an afterthought. I want young people to get the education and skills they need to turn their backs on crime for good. Government sources believe that the current system is failing to educate or train youngsters, as the focus is on imprisonment and punishing offenders. Almost three quarters of young offenders who leave custody reoffend within a year, compared with 47 per cent of adults leaving custody. Most 15 to 17-year-olds in custody have previously been excluded from school and half are assessed as having the literacy levels of children aged under 11. Young offenders" institutions are supposed to provide 15 hours of education a week although this is said to be "not frequently achieved." Mr Grayling will study the introduction of academies and free schools to see if "new providers" can be encouraged to operate secure colleges. He is also pioneering the use of "payment by results" for private companies rehabilitating prisoners. On Wednesday, the Howard League for Penal Reform said that children should not be sent to prison to be educated. Frances Crook, the chief executive of the organisation, said: "We welcome the fact that the Government is concentrating on the educational difficulties of children who enter the criminal justice system. However, we should never send children to prison to get an education. Confusion is at the heart of these plans, which risk repeating the mistakes of history such as the failing secure training centres, where reoffending is sky-high and two children have died. Almost all the children who end up in custody could be dealt with in the community and that is the way to get them back into school, college or training.