Without a shadow of a doubt, our kids are falling way behind many other nations, and the number leaving school still illiterate is the only score that is rising!
According to credible reports/surveys, these kids are doomed to spend a lifetime in poverty, or simply swelling prison numbers!
This is occurring because we abandoned things like phonetics and replaced what did work, with completely unproven intellectual concepts, that a few dozen complex rationalists, are welded to?
Sure kids should be largely free to set their own agenda, pursue what really interests them, but from a basic good and complete education foundation, which must include basic reading and writing skills, maths and science.
Good dedicated teachers, following both their heart and vocation, will make learning any of these disciplines into fun!
The worst thing that happened to education, was the industrialization of teaching, and the inherent inflexibility that flowed from that.
Clearly, there are people entering this profession, with inherent basic illiteracy, which then is transferred in spades, to their students?
Teaching is a lot more than just a 9 to 5 job and or a pay packet!
And if teachers find repetition boring, then they're clearly in the wrong vocation, because repetition, is the very best way to inculcate, the very basics, each child must have as the very foundation stone of an education, which then allows them to expand their knowledge base, and or, pursue what really interests and excites them.
At the end of the day, education is all about kids or the next generation, rather than indolent teachers, who find necessary repetition, just as boring as bat poo!
We simply can't do what must be done, and jettison these road blocks in the path of much better education outcomes, because they're protected by a union, and or, a paperwork creating, critical time consuming, centralized administration!
Rhrosty

Oh god, another one.

Xue it is great that some students have a "wider knowledge, sports, dancing, leadership and creativity", but it is not reasonable to expect tax payers to fund the acquisition of these hobby type activities. Surely this peripheral activities can be left to parents & not be a further charge on taxpayers.

Then you waffle on about a focus on NAPLAN, about the only thing that gives us some check on the progress of kids in "real" learning, & the competence of teachers in actually teaching kids something useful.

Self esteem and confidence is something kids have or don't have, & few are going to become so, just because they can trip the light fantastic to a tune on a school CD player.

If they are scholastically incompetent, or made so by lousy teaching of the rounded people school, the sooner they realise this, & learn their probable future in society, the sooner they can learn to be salesmen, & become rich.

God don't we need to bring back school inspectors.

That is not very Chinese of you Xeu.

As a Chinese, you know that education exams are extremely important, that is why so many Chinese students go to private schools after hours or on weekends. Nothing is more important to those 'Tiger Mom's" than their kid's results.

What is your game? Have you been thoroughly house trained by the NSW educational establishment that hates the idea of exams? Or are you just feeding the stupid white barbarians the left wing party line that you know will eventually lead to the primacy of Asians in Australia over the white trash?

Does the author have an undisclosed connection with McDonald College? It is a private school which selects its students on the basis of their ability as performers. Like any selective school, it will have a handful of very successful alumni. What about the others - those who dreamed of succeeding on the stage or screen and who just don't make the cut. It is how those students regard their education and how well equipped they are for life in the post-school world that will provide the true measure of the school. I know a couple of ex-McDonald students and they don't seem particularly thrilled with the realisation that their performing 'career' will probably be limited to amateur dramatics.