Education is to help young people to become humane. A chief rabbi once said that when it comes to the defence of civilisation, our fortresses are our schools, our heroes are our teachers, and our strongest weapon is education. This came out of a Jewish community that had suffered the most horrendous attacks. The people in charge of Auschwitz were highly educated, but education did nothing for them.
We do want children to read, write, spell and punctuate and be able to get jobs, but the nub is that they are cultured, thoughtful and above all compassionate.
