So nearly half our year 12 students

don't finish school according to a report in this morning's paper.
Really?
What they were talking about was students finishing and achieving a SACE certificate - something that would allow many of them to head off to university.
There will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. "This is not good enough!" Apparently at least a quarter of students leave with nothing at all, not even a school based acknowledgment of what they have (or have not) managed to learn.
I had prowled out to pick up the paper thinking about what I wanted to say in this morning's blog post. The report confirmed my view that I need to say this,
"ALL CHILDREN NEED TO LEARN AN ART OR CRAFT"/
Yesterday was "pick  up" day for people who had put items into the state's annual show. It's a very busy morning as there are over 1500 items on display in the area I am involved in alone - and it is not the only area. 
Most of the people who put things in are older adults. They are the people who have the time to do the beautiful work that comes in about two weeks before the show begins. But, there are an increasing number of younger people. Some of those younger people are very, very good too. They have, against the odds, managed to learn the skills to create all sorts of arts and crafts objects.  Yes, those beautiful socks were knitted by someone not yet 21. That "hat for the homeless" was knitted by a 13yr old who taught herself to knit by watching YouTube videos and that hat was made by a man in his early 20s. I could go on. 
The socks won a second and so did the hat made by the young man. The hat for the homeless got a commendation - a junior competing in the open section.
The mother of the junior came in to pick her ribbon up and said,
   "She will be thrilled. I couldn't do it."
Of course she probably could if she tried but it was interesting that the girl had taught herself.
   "Nobody else in the family does anything like that," her mother told me, "We're all a bit sporty actually."
I asked if she was doing well at school. 
    "Yes, very well but she will have to give up art next year. She can't afford to waste time on that and I don't know if she will have the time to go on with this sort of thing."
I am afraid I looked at her mother and said, "If you want her to go on doing well at school then perhaps she really needs to go on doing art.  It isn't a waste of time at all. It might not look like it but it is a vital part of her education." 
I told this woman how a school inspector had, in the Senior Cat's early years as a teacher, told him, "Man is a skill hungry animal." He was referring to the desire of people to learn the skills that allow them to create things. 
We seem to have forgotten that. Schools, teachers, parents, students are obsessed with "not wasting time" on arts and crafts and creating things. Doing maths, physics, chemistry, IT, coding and other science is all considered more important than learning an art or a craft. If that is all that school consists of is it any wonder if the students are bored and want to drop out or don't complete their certificates? 
Sadly my guess is that the 13yr old won't be allowed to continue doing art at school. I just have to hope she will find the time to go on creating something at home.