The teaching of Shakespeare should be compulsory.

The compulsory inclusion of Shakespeare on the syllabus does not necessarily stop other authors and playwrights from being included. For example, Shakespeare formed part of my English Literature GCSE course, however I still read the works of several other writers and these works were examined with an equal and sometimes greater weighting. weighting.  
 
In addition to this, Shakespeare's literary value does not lie simply in the merit of his work. His influence on other authors has been enormous, and an understanding of Shakespeare's work opens doors to many other great works, and a fair amount of popular culture. 
 
Studying the form of sonnet known as 'Shakespearean' might be possible without ever having read one by Shakespeare himself, but surely you'd be missing something. In Huxley's Brave New World 'sophisticated' society shuns Shakespeare. Without having read anything he wrote, how would the reader know what meaning to interpret from this attitude? Like it or not, Shakespeare is a major part of the English canon and his influence is stretches too wide to disregard.

Shakespeare's reputation is largely inflated, and relative to the age you live in. In the 17th century, for example, several of his plays were rewritten for performance, with Lear given an alternate ending for example.

Although there are of course some very fine moments, and some very good plays, he is by no means the uber-poet some make him out to be. The Merry Wives of Windsor, for example, is pretty much rubbish. Shakespeare has become synonymous with 'the best' erroneously; there are other authors equally deserving of time on the curriculum, so giving Shakespeare the limelight is unfair and only cements his irrationally-given place as the nation's best.