The role of schools and parents in children's education

A few days ago a 15 year old in New Zealand's Hawkes Bay region was tasked with an assignment where she had to write on something she felt passionate about. Her essay ended up getting her in trouble because her chosen topic was the failings of the education system in NZ.  She said that rather than people learning Maths and English they should learn how to apply for jobs and how to manage their finances.

There are a few fundamental problems with her argument. 

Finance can be incorporated into Maths and writing a legible CV can be incorporated into English. If people can't construct basic sentences, how can they get a job like the 15 year old Hawke's Bay student said? If they can't calculate basic equations then how can they manage their money?   You'd be surprised how often basic secondary school mathematics comes up in every day life.  I don't know about you but I use it doing my budget, as do governments.  I use English every day when writing emails and speaking to people.  These are basic skills and the reality is that without English and Maths (basic) you won't get very far in life.

Understandably there has been some controversy saying the term is misguided, which she is, however commentators are wrong about one thing - it is possible to know what you want to do from a small age.  I decided what I wanted to do when I was six years old so as a result I never focused on maths or science as they aren't required in writing and journalism.  I then studied media and politics at university where maths and science were not at all needed but as I mention, maths is needed on a day to day basis, more than you'd think.

Then there's the other question, what role do schools have and what should be done by parents? Isn't the purpose of schools to teach children the basics so that they can get into university, TAFE or get a job straight after school?  Shouldn't CV writing  and budgeting be taught by parents?  It seems as if some people are expecting more from schools than is necessary when their job is simply to get people educated so they can get jobs or go onto further study.