This paper does not address all of the challenges in terms of equity, performance and effectiveness of education. Instead it focuses on ten critical issues which have an impact on the daily lives of learners and their teachers, with an emphasis on compulsory schooling.

Its focuses strongly on the need for a commitment to public education rather than private education - seeing education as a public good. It also focuses on equity of access and outcome as an underlying challenge and principle that should drive educational policy and practice.

The paper is informed by a fifteen-year journey focused on the idea of a great school for all, which requires a focus on building the adaptive, collaborative capacity of each school to respond to the specific needs of the students and teachers within the building. While education "systems" are important, the key unit of focus is the school as an organization which can make choices.