Another plea to waste even more on edumukation, without verifiable goals it will remain a plaything of the ideologues of the Left. As if performance of Australia is a concern of a sheltered workshop philosopher.

Incidental learning is the way to go?

We face a high tech future where education will be an absolute essential, but particularly maths and science!

The gonski model could be replaced if allowed, by the gone-see, model!

And we could become a nation of storekeepers, table waiter, door openers, shoeshine boys and bankers?

You could shine my shoes and I could pay you, then I could shine yours and you'd pay me? And based on a gone see? Service based economic model!

WE need a needs based education funding model! And given a limited bucket of finite money!

It must be means tested and placed in parents/carers hands! As an education endowment? Then make responsible parents pay or direct the funds, for their kids education?

And given they don't handle that money, just direct it! Ensure school compete on evidence based merit for that results reliant money!

This very feature, would all but eliminate union control or protection by them of incompetent or indifferent teachers!

As state governments their hands ripped from this pot of money, they will have little other choice than rapidly introduce regional autonomy! As well as let a veritable army of cost adding, fee imposing public servants go!

And that's how you eliminate all the irrelevance out of publicly funded education!
Alan B.

That is right McCackie we should only allow people to have a useful education. Once upon a time that was how it was done, people were educated to be wainwrights, perriwig makers, beamers and cordwainers. But then times changed and there was no need for fletchers, nightmen, warpers or automobile manufacturers any more, so these people ended up on the scrapheap.

Only the rich could afford a less relevant education and this suited them just fine. It gave them the skills to oppress the poor, who became out of work every time technology changed and were not able to develop a new skill set.

The only way to deal with entrenched poverty is to provide a good education.

And the best way to entrench poverty is to rip billions of those struggling to get by, so clowns in ivory towers, built with that money can spend their time contemplating their navel, or some such useless activity, while pontificating to those who pay their way.

Of course Sam can't understand the difference between a free education & a free learning system. Great the free education is there for all. If you want Sam's type, pay for it yourself buddy.

still to dumb to learn that humans don't appreciate what they don't pay for. That is why aboriginal living standards are so poor and so many of our unis have dumbed down so many to believe the gw hoax and that perverting the marriage act is not equality but destruction.