Alan Tudge, the relatively new Education Minister, bolted out of the gates with an ambitious goal of returning Australian schools to the top of the international class by 2030.

In an important but under-reported speech to the Menzies Research Centre, he drew attention to Australia’s performance on the OECD’s Program for International Student Assessment (PISA). He’s right to do so. We’ve been falling behind for 20 years. It is an urgent problem and a big challenge.