Pardon me while I cry into my Metamucil.
So stress levels are higher than 40 and 50 years ago when entrance to University depended on full fee-paying or receipt of Commonwealth scholarships (means tested),or State and Commonwealth Fellowships? In Qld receipt of these scholarships or fellowships was based on performance in the Senior examination. Unfortunately one can't test the hypothesis that stress levels are higher now.
What is true is that a lot more students finish Grade 12 and a much higher percentage of these students go on to University. Presumably the writer is concerned about the pressure to gain entrance to the "big ticket" courses viz Law, Medicine etc.
One thing is certain; students nowadays are much wealthier than their counterparts of fifty years ago and their expectations much higher.

Yes. In the last 57 years, nobody has ever asked me to solve a quadratic equation; fortunately I was not in the top maths class so do not have to fuss about nobody having asked me to differentiate anything either. What I do know is that it took me about 30 years to recover an interest in Shakespeare after a year of close reading of "Richard II" for the NSW leaving cert.
Perhaps the emphasis should be on critical reasoning rather than learning about the Treaty of Utrecht (no I can't remember either!). I think it is important for bright kids to get general career advice e.g. try to keep your options open by, say, a generalist BA / BSc / BCom before plunging into a vocational degree. Also, if you do not live there already, go to University in your capital city if you can afford it.

Does Nina really believe this stuff, or was it just something to say?

Our uuiversities are crying out about the poor standard of the kids comming in.

It's just a couple of years since my last kid finished high school. Yes, I know, I'm a late starter, one of Bob Hawke's silly old buggers.

I still had most of my of my late 50s math, physics, & chemistry, but doubted my ability to help my kids, when we found some of the teachers less than good.

I need not of worried. The stuff in the courses was so much reduced on 50s NSW material, that I had no problem. That is, apart from where they had tried to make hard subjects, a bit softer, & more literary.

From what I saw, some of this dumbing down, just may be to suit teachers, many of whom are struggling with what they were trying to teach, even at the reduced level.

Nope..not my experience Nina. I thoroughly enjoyed school (in the UK)for the most part, mostly to a soundtrack of bad 80's music. Passed some 'O' level exams, failed a few others, went on to pass (and fail) some 'A' levels. Had to go to college for a year (sort of TAFE) to retake A levels, but managed to have fun.

Went on and thoroughly enjoyed university too...exams passed. I had no idea what my future held, but was confident that I could find a way through.

The point is that exams are a source of pressure, but the idea that they are the be-all and end-all of life is an articifical hurdle placed there by numerous srouces, that adds to the stress. If you are taught to fear exams, and they are made to look like great mountains in your path, then no wonder kids get stressed. Perhaps I was lucky in that my parents pretty much left me to it, and didn't get all stressy themselves about my future.

The idea that appears to exist that you have to go straight from school / uni into a career is rubbish (few students know what they want until they find it)...I didn't get a proper 'career' job until about 9 years after I left university, but still earned enough money to look after myself and enjoy life.

Rather than feeling sorry for students we should be teaching them how to handle pressure and put the hurdles they face into perspective.

I'm very grateful to have completed senior high school in 1985, because the Western Australian system was drastically changed for the class of '86, in accord with the 'Beazley Report'.

In 1985 we still matriculated through the Tertiary Admissions Examination (TAE) and in 1986 that changed to the TEE; Tertiary Entrance Exam. The final Year 12 TAE examinations over the last couple of weeks in 1985 counted as 100% the ticket to uni, so we were given the chance to prove without doubt what we had learned over the last 12 or 13 years.

Not so in 1986, when the TEE comprised 50% of final exams and 50% assessments over the final year or two, so personal relationships with one's teachers comprised a much more valuable asset for those who may never have made it over the line if asked to perform in real time on the spot by way of an honest examination.

For what little help it's ever been over these last 24 years, at least I can take comfort in the knowledge that my TAE was worth the paper it was printed on.

Final high school examinations separate the wheat from the chaff. The sad state of tertiary education in Australia today is possibly caused by the erroneous minds of uni-graduates cum tutors/lecturers who might never have passed their final exams outright, but still qualified for a ride on the gravy train with the right help.

First of all I want to say that I agree absolutely with what Nina has written - it was an especially interesting thought that young people will be required to work in jobs that don't yet exist and so on.

I think the path now towards university and/or apprenticeships is so much more complex too.

Nevertheless, I couldn't help but laugh when I read this joke, no doubt written by some old grump with a cutting sense of humour:

* * ** * * * THE EVOLUTION OF THE MATH PROBLEM * * * ** * *

1960 A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of this price. What is his profit?

1970 (Traditional) >A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is 4/5 of this price, or in other words, $80. What is his profit?

1970 (New Math) A logger exchanges a set L of lumber for a set M of money. The cardinality of set M is 100 and each element is worth a dollar. Make a square array of 100 dots to represent the elements of set M. The set C of the cost of production contains 20 fewer elements that set M. Represent set C as a subset of set M and answer the following question: What is the cardiniality of set P of profits?

1980 A logger sells a truckload of lumber for $100. His cost of production is $80 and his profit is $20. Your assignment is to underline the number 20.

1990 (Outcome-based destreamed integrated Math): By cutting down beautiful forest trees, an environmentally ignorant logger makes a profit of $20. What do you think of this way of making a living? In your group, use role play to determine how the forest birds and squirrels feel.