Imo the general standard of state school education in this country has always been mediocre(at best). For while people over 40 may lament back to "when school was better", no it wasn't. The lesson plans were constructed more like a punishment than something to be engage in and enjoyed. Teachers tended to be routinely violent and apparently harbouring a range of sociopathic disorders. The laws are different so as to have limited the number of borderline psycho's that go into the teaching profession, but I am convinced the standard has gotten no better. In some ways it is worse. So I just wanted to throw a couple of ideas in. How would you feel about school lasting an extra 5hours per week, the extra hour each day being used so the child had to take part in some sort of competitive sport? Or as an alternative to the extra hour each day, they could come in on a Sat 10-2. Also, as a tool to stimulate strategy, thought, planning, sharpness of mind, how would you feel about including chess somewhere in the lesson plan? I see no reason why it could not be taught from primary age upwards, and be part of (maybe?) a maths lesson.
I wouldn't oppose it, but I think your premise that education used to be draconian compared to today is absurd. There are good teachers and bad teachers in that regard and always has been and always will be. Teachers are humans, not robots, and they each have their strengths and weaknesses.
The idea of compulsory competitive sports is absurd. It gives the strong and dim an excuse to think themselves somehow superior to the less combative, brighter students.
