The trouble is that neither Nicky Morgan nor her unlamented predecessor Michael Gove have the slightest idea of what education is or what it's for.
Actually that's not quite true. They have their own, party-approved idea.
They, and their party leaders see education as a way of turning out factory-ready robots who all behave themselves in exactly the way the Government wants them to and who all act and think the same way and believe the same things.
Any idea that education should go beyond equipping kids for a life of soulless drudgery in whichever industry is paying for their particular academy is such an alien concept to them that you might as well try explaining dentistry to a jellyfish.

I'm with you, Bob. Lifelong education is what is valuable. Training courses or other education sessions (maybe graduate school) for professional degrees are something else. I've always said those early years of education are the most important. That's where they become curious to learn and are supported as they learn.

Bob, we have the same problem in US, although we are probably further down the garden path than y'all. Still I was taken aback by the Eng stds linked in the article. Such arcane grammatical trivia, for 7-y.o.'s! Our CCSS-ELA is no less age-inappropriate for that level, requiring text comparisons & such, but grammar expectations are reasonable.