Mediocrity

I have a Polish friend who told me that when his children went through Australian schools that he was convinced that the choice of subject matter and the level of teaching were specifically designed to make children as mediocre as possible, from my experience of Australian society and schools I can't see anything that would disprove his view. The last thing anyone ever seems to want in Australian society or in its schools is an educated opinion, or indeed anything outside of the mediocre mainstream (oh yes, unless it is related to sport, naturally).

So what confuses me is why Fiona Stanley of ARACY is surprised by the latest OECD study, putting out this quote:

We need to be asking how an affluent and successful country like Australia can be so average when it comes to raising our children and whether we're prepared to continue to accept mediocrity for our young people

See: http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24527995-601,00.html

Surely if the report is saying that Australia is being successful in its aims, Australia after all continues to send out to the world its greatest brains while closely nurturing its idiots, why is Ms Stanley not sending out congratulations for a job well done. It seems Ms Stanley is the one with the problem here. Tall poppy anyone.