As long as we have a Minister who causes discontent within the teaching profession, who fails to recognise that teachers and students should be provided with a proper learning environment and who fails to provide the support facilities for pre-school education, our future in terms of our OECD partners will disimprove rather than improve. Many people in education believe that league tables are important as a way of monitoring the effectiveness of schools, the work of teachers and the response of pupils. The one country which stands head and shoulders above all others in this report is Finland, yet it rejected out of hand the idea of league tables.