Teaching children the business of waffle Given my background as a trained economist, I thought it would be most useful to look at the Draft Years 5-10 Australian Curriculum: Economics and Business. Note that this covers students aged between 10 and 16. My reaction - oh dear. In the first paragraph, there is a reference to "exploring the way individuals, families, the community, businesses and governments make decisions in relation to the allocation of resources and to consider the effects of these decisions both now and in the future." Apart from the unfathomable meaning of this sentence, does anyone seriously think a 10-year-old can understand the concept of resource allocation? ... There are three priorities: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures; Asia and Australia's engagement with Asia; and sustainability... Evidently, our young students will be exploring business options for the indigenous community, including "ways of creating consumer and financial opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander individuals and communities." Given that our politicians have failed in this task, perhaps our young ones will do a better job... Of course, no course of study is complete without looking at sustainability. Here students will be asked to consider "more sustainable patterns of living and to build capacities for thinking, valuing, designing and taking action that will create a more sustainable future." Evidently the students will develop a clear understanding of the "interrelated nature of economic and ecological sustainability." It's a bit unclear what all this has to do with economics and business... The bottom line is that the national curriculum on economics and business for years 5 to 10 is tosh. It is page after page of earnest, largely worthless, drivel... There is absolutely no case for including economics and business in the curriculum for these year levels. Teaching students some fundamental building blocks - percentages, simple and compound interest, net present value - is a much more useful pursuit than trying to impose half-baked, politically correct concepts on impressionable young people.