There is no core curriculum that ensures that every student learns the basic skills that are needed to compete in the ever-changing global economy. Our results in the OECD’s PISA (Programme for International Student Assessment) tests are woeful, and we are falling in the international rankings.
We cannot build the nation and our future if we do not educate our people – all our people – to equip them to live in the modern world. At some point, the sooner the better, we have to confront the separate educational systems and their political context, and stop and reverse the deterioration of our educational standards.