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As the GCSE and A-level results season approaches, the chairman of the exams regulator Ofqual, Kathleen Tattersall, has struck a blow against dumbing down.
Ms Tattersall has criticised the removal of foreign languages from the compulsory curriculum beyond the age of 14.
It is a message that rings true in the capital, where an estimated one in three workers was born abroad and the everyday reality of globalisation is obvious.
Of the world's biggest economies, Britain's is probably the most open to international trade and investment. Despite the power of English, that means British children will lose out on job opportunities if they do not master foreign languages. Besides, there are other benefits.
Memorising vocabulary and studying grammar are great training for the mind in themselves, while the business of learning another language is an introduction to other ways of life at a time when most people can afford at least some travel abroad.
Ms Tattersall has already taken action to restore standards in science GSCEs by ordering a revision of their content. Her suggestion that multiple-choice questions in subjects such as English could mean fairer marking will raise eyebrows.
But questions about grammar have right and wrong answers. As long as the skills of constructing arguments and writing at length are also assessed, there may well be a place for multiple-choice questions. After the debacle of last summer's SATS, confidence in the exam process urgently needs to be restored.
We take issue with Ms Tattersall's view that many of those who worry about declining standards are viewing the past too rosily. There is plenty of evidence from teachers, past exam papers and examiners' experience to suggest that less is demanded of pupils now than in the Seventies and Eighties.
Schools are under pressure to show good results by encouraging children to take subjects they can be sure to pass, urged on by a system that ranks hairdressing qualifications on a par with GCSEs in physics. These distortions cannot be changed by Ofqual alone.
However, we applaud Ms Tattersall's readiness to point out the unfortunate consequences of the Government's error in making languages optional after 14 and look forward to her continued efforts to raise standards.
Selfish strikers
Train strikes now may not cause the same misery as those that coincide with dark winter evenings but the industrial action which began today is bad enough for commuters into Liverpool Street.
Those who rely on the railway have little sympathy at the best of times with the drivers' ability to hold them to ransom. But in a recession, where jobs and businesses are fragile, the strikers' action is brutally selfish.
It won't bother Bob Crow if a cancelled train costs a self-employed entrepreneur a vital piece of business, or puts an employee at risk of losing a job. Instead, he and his fellow drivers put their interests ahead of everyone else's.
The unions have dismissed pay rises they regard as “peanuts” and asked for a four-day week for some drivers. This is no way to carry on in difficult times when many workers are seeing zero pay growth or even salary cuts, and unemployment is rising fast. The RMT and Aslef should get back to work.
Recycling carrot
Residents of five London boroughs are to be encouraged to recycle their rubbish with the offer of up to £168 a year in supermarket vouchers. Assuming there is no cost to the councils, thanks to marketing deals with the retailers, this is a welcome move.
Some town halls have planned to impose penalties on people who fail to divide their waste, and it is vital to stop so much waste going to landfill sites. But for those who are not yet green enough in their habits, sometimes a carrot is better than a stick.
