There's two ingredients required for learning. A receptive student and a competent teacher (teaching environment). Without either one it's going to be a failure. The best school in the world cannot teach an unwilling student with a bad attitude. A willing, eager student will learn little from an inept teacher or a dysfunctional teaching environment.

Given there are two variables in the equation the ultimate responsibility is still with the parents. After all, who's kid is it, the government's or the parent's? While parents could (should) demand better schools from the government the government won't (shouldn't) interfere with how parents raise their kids.

I am very cognisant of this in my philosophy for raising my kids. The most important gift a parent can give a child beyond the basic necessities is instilling the proper attitude in dealing with the world. I focus on teaching them concepts of respect, responsibility, kindness and effort. Everything else will follow. There's no school in the world that I could trust to teach my kids those things, assuming they were capable of doing so in the first place.

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Wake up every day that would be a start.