Knowledge Day 2019

Happy Knowledge Day.

Ukraine decided to extend secondary school to twelve years, which is what most of Europe has and what Ukraine did not.

The arguments for it are straightforward: better alignment with European qualifications, more time for the curriculum, better preparation for higher education. The arguments against are equally real: an extra year is expensive, delays entry to the workforce, and requires more teachers than the system has.

What interests me is that the decision was made at all. An extra school year is a cost borne now for a benefit realised in the 2030s. Very few political systems anywhere are structurally capable of that trade, and the ones that manage it tend to do well over long horizons.

To every child with flowers today: a good year.