Stephen Downes

What attracted me to this item was not the tales of abuse in illegal schools but rather the philosophical question emerging from the headline: what counts as 'wasted lives'. Some cases are obvious, such as students who may perish in a fire when the doors are locked. Arguably, so are cases where the 'education' is nothing more than work in a sweatshop or when the teachers and staff are abusive. "Misogynistic behaviour doesn't just happen at religious schools." But where does the limit lie between a 'wasted life' level of abuse and merely 'undesirable conditions and outcomes' type of school? It's hard for me to imagine any life that isn't prematurely ended as 'wasted'. But that might just be my own bias. (p.s. please do not construe this as support for illegal or even private schooling; it is not).