Canadian educators are pursuing the wrong goals, and it will cost our country dearly in economic terms, according to an opinion piece published in the Toronto Sun.

Derek J. Allison, professor emeritus of education at the University of Western Ontario, cites a study conducted by the Fraser Institute, which finds that Canada must increase student math, science and reading scores if it wishes to “remain competitive with emerging economies around the world”. 

Instead, Canada’s schools have been pursuing high levels of “equity and inclusion”, while its Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) scores have been declining.

“Higher (PISA) test scores translate into greater ‘knowledge capital’, that is, the full body of knowledge available to an economy, and boost economic growth.”

          -Derek Allison, Toronto Sun

PISA tests are conducted every three years, and assess the performance of 15-year-olds around the world in math, science and reading. They are a clear indication of how Canadian students perform compared to their peers in other countries, including countries with which Canada competes economically. 

Currently, the test results don’t bode well for Canada.

As classroom instruction and curriculum in Canada have increasingly reflected the shifting priorities and trends of diversity, systemic racism, gender identity and sexual health pushed by social radicals, we have lost sight of the real goal of education, which is to uplift society through imparting real, applicable knowledge to students.

As Allison points out, the “Asian Tiger” economies of Hong Kong, Korea, Singapore and Taiwan all have rapidly growing economies which are driven by correspondingly rising PISA scores.

Will it take the rest of the world leaving Canada behind academically and economically for our educators and governments to realize we are going down a disastrous path?

It’s time to teach students what they need to know, rather than using schools as indoctrination centres for misbegotten notions of social restructuring. 

The future of our children, and our country, depends on it.