The Adam Smith Institute has a report on Terry Leahy's speech, in which he said that there was a growing problem schools failing to equip children with the skills they need to operate in the workforce.

From my perspective the chief skills, if you can call them that, which my children's state school tries to teach are recycling, greenery and a correct attitude to the environment. I don't feel that these are likely to be highly saleable attributes once they reach the workforce.

Having just been elected to the Board of Governors (or whatever it is they call it these days) I hope to do my bit to remedy this - watch this space. My straw polls of parental opinion suggest that I'm not alone in my concerns. It is rather surprising just how many parents have said to me that they view the emphasis on recycling as more akin to brainwashing than education. But despite this I'm rather dubious as to whether I will actually be able to remedy the situation.  It's a state school, after all, so why should anyone at the school or at the council give a stuff about what I, or even the whole of the parent body think?