The LNP have been in control for most of the past 20 years and have successfully created disadvantage for most of the nation compared with the rest of the world. But then it’s easier to control the disadvantaged isn’t it? (ODT)

The declining performance of Australian school students is in the spotlight again. But is there anything governments can do to arrest the decline?

According to the latest results from PISA 2018, the average reading levels of Australian 15-year-olds fell by the equivalent of three-quarters of a year of school since 2000. Mathematics levels fell by one-and-a-quarter years of school since 2003. And science levels fell by almost a year of school since 2006. Very few countries recorded such large falls in performance.

Focus on basics leaves schoolkids short in essential deep thinking