I also agree with Luis that `talking up quality’ is an interesting point in the article. However, I think another possible way of measuring the quality could lie in the involvement of the parents in primary and secondary education. It is known that higher parent involvement in a students education increases the students own engagement in their education. I read another interesting article from the Center of International Education Benechmarking. It states that parents in the Netherlands take their role in their child’s education very seriously and participate more in schools and national groups. The Association for Public Authority Education (VOO), a national group that has a membership of about 25,000, conducted a survey of 787 parents and indicated that 90% of respondents participated in school activities or volunteer opportunities.

What are other measurements of accountability? What incentive systems need to be incorporated to solidly prove the “quality” in order to achieve this international competitiveness?