I never said education was 'just' a social goal, that is putting words into my mouth.. To me it is the fuel, but not the engine. Weβve had the one of the best fuels in the world for decades and the car is still slow. Why? Because we have a tiny engine. We invest our national wealth in houses instead of technology. Until you address why NZ businesses don't invest in R&D, 'fixing schools' is just training people for high value jobs that don't exist here, which is why our best and brightest move to Australia the moment they graduate.
The current decline in schools is a tragedy for the future and not the cause of our decades long low productivity. And this is not me saying we shouldn't fix education..