OECD report - Our average children

We assured ourselves, maybe for too long, that our education system is world-class and that those who used it to the full could compete with the very best on the world stage.

That may well be the case for a minority, but yesterday’s OECD report, which found that our teenagers are merely average at problem-solving seems a reality check that cannot be ignored, even if unfamiliarity with using computers for schoolwork was rolled out as an excuse for the less than stellar results.

So much of our educational philosophy seems based around ideas that answer needs other than education or equipping individuals for the ruthless, uncompromising world that awaits them once they finish their education.