A apt comment on the state of education seen this morning:

"How could it be that university graduates send out CVs they imagine are advertisements for competence but actually serve only to confirm their inability to spell and punctuate?"

Ever tried to read a doctor's scribble?

While immigrants are expected to have perfect English.

Doctors I visit use the default system script. Migrants' CVs may be even better because they get assistance.

It would be the unusual Asian parent who doesn't insist on her child attending private coaching every Saturday while others play sport, to be highly competitive for those places at the particular schools that they of course have researched and know. Same where university courses and placements are concerned and to achieve that early success that springboards tertiary attainments.

OK, some of that is out of the way and BTW, good on those Asian parents who at least know what their goals are and have sussed out the flaws in the education system.

I reckon this article sums it up well,

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-14/sapwell-the-generation-grammar-forgotted/4463290

Missed is the known poor educational performance of boys and especially where English expression and enjoyment of reading are concerned, a trend that has not bottomed.

To any with young children I would say please read to them routinely and often. It really doesn't require those great works of note that one might find in lists. Just encourage a love of reading and anything does. Make fortnightly trips to the library and a small reward after. Fit it around and not instead of, recreation and sporting interests.

Foxy: You ask others "Ever tried to read a doctor's scribble?", but have you yourself had to read much doctors' writing.

From my experience I couldn't conclude (admittedly from only the limited sample I've encountered) that in general doctors handwriting is worse than average. For instance, one of my neighbours is a doctor and his writing is quite legible. Also I've personally been hospitalized a few times and every doctor I've met whose written something has done so quite legibly (not that there is that much hand writing these days- all correspondence is typed. I'm just referring to notes on the chart and the like whose content didn't mean a lot to me but at least it was discernibly written).

But besides this, what the article is referring to is the poor standards and lack of attention to spelling and grammar- NOT handwriting. It would be extremely rare for someone to supply a resume/CV that was hand written these days. I believe you could safely assume that the specimens in question that the article is referring to were typed.

English is our official language.
In view of this every official piece of paper, every test for any form of permit or licence should be conducted only in English.

I can't imagine anything more ridiculous than issuing drivers licence to people who have no English, & can't read signs.

Making English mandatory for any form of examination for any form of licence would force recent arrivals to at least learn the language.