[Eric]

The demise of education systems is a common complaint over here too .... among all the many reasons indiscipline, watering down of content etc., I believe that one major problem that receives too little attention is that students are no longer allowed to fail; they are pushed through because failure is viewed as something that will distress the little dears .... all students entering school (esp. secondary school) should be given t-shirts emblazoned with: "Failure Is Always an Option". We are what we are as a species because we experiment, courting failure as we go along. We learn, I believe, more from our failures than our successes; in fact, most of our successes (in the kitchen for example; there is always viagara for failures in the bedroom) are born of failure.

To get a good view of how schools are failing the students, try teaching entry level classes at university.