"F*** off": Basic skills?

BOSTON, USA—Further proof, if any were needed, of the brave new world we find ourselves living in:

Teacher gives kid credit for e'F'fort
Associated Press report as published in the July 1, 2008 edition of The Boston Herald

A British high school student received credit for writing nothing but a two-word obscenity on an exam paper, because the phrase expressed meaning and was spelled correctly.
The Times newspaper yesterday quoted examiner Peter Buckroyd as saying he gave the student—who wrote an expletive followed by the word "off"—two points out of a possible 27 for the English paper.
"It would be wicked to give it zero because it does show some very basic skills we are looking for, like conveying some meaning and some spelling," Buckroyd was quoted saying.
"It's better than someone that doesn't write anything at all."
Buckroyd said the student would have received a higher mark if the phrase had been punctuated.
Buckroyd is a senior examiner for the Assessment and Qualifications Alliance, one of several bodies that grade British high school exams.
He said the expletive was used in 2006 by a student in response to the question: "Describe the room you are sitting in."

So, "fuck off" conveys basic skills that society is looking for? Let people wonder no longer why British youngsters have very little civility and why they are the worst educated in Europe.