This joke is very appropriate to the issue I am to explore.

The business owner conducts an interview for a chief accountant. Invite first candidate and ask the question: 2=2? Four answer the candidate. Owner calls: next one!
After hours of interviewing, and all so far rejected, an old man come in, same question 2+2 and he answers – but how much your wish sir to be? - accepted declare the owner.

Our education is fast becoming similar to the essence of this story. The truth and common sense are irrelevant in Australian education and in US education as I am aware. Other countries in particular in Europe except one country, are much more sensible.

Units of measure are absolutely not understood in Australia. It would be very hard to find anyone who understand the units here. Why? Because teachers and ministers do not understand them.

Problem is not in the fact that one or two people make mistake, problem is in the fact that ministers have no common sense and they simply do not understand the issue at all. Why? Because they have no ability to think independently, they were taught garbage and they promote garbage. 

Universities propagate garbage rather than sensible knowledge.

Years ago when I've been studying digital technique, the teacher, have told us when teaching the Boolean algebra basics: do not answer as book say but as I teach you. I 've learned this way and do not dare to say on exam your way even when you can proove it right.
I did the right way and he marked down the answer. I and a few other students who understood the way text bood explains got mark down simply because teacher could not understand properly the issue he was teaching.

In Australia, teachers do not teach what is right but what they were taught. They cannot think clearly and independently.
At the university years later when I studied medical sciences, the teacher demanded me to answer not as I understand but as mainstream scientists say. Open minded teacher does not limit students knowledge, narrow minded do not tolerate independent thinking.

Think about the units of measure, if you are a laboratory purchaser and have no understanding of units you order a million liters of expensive substance rather than one mililiter, simply because you do not understand that the difference is in small or capital letter “m” as a prefix of a liter abbreviation “l”.

It may be not only expensive but also dangerous if applied in medicine or food technology.

Americans had very expensive crash in space only because they confused metrics with nonsese system I think called imperial or so.


No Ausie write 100km, they say 100klms. No sensible person, no person who understand units can possibly say such nonsense.

According to an international system of measures and science k stands for 1000 of a meter, a commonly known kilometer.
The Aussie including minister for education of SA, Lomax Smith and fedear minister for education Julia Gillard, do not understand what they say as 100 klms. Trying to decipher their gibrish it would be: 100 kilo liter per meter per second. It has meaning in physics but it is complex unit and I do not try to explain it's meaning. Definitely it is as remote from kilometers as North from South poles.

So technically and scientifically it is garbage.
Full word is kilometers. Abbreviated is not much shorter “klms” rather than proper km.

How sensible is australian abreviation of say 10m? They say 10mtrs. Is it an abbreviation? Is it a unit of measure or what?
This is surely a result of all levels of Australian education and political leadership. Chronic under-education and stubborness. 

Same thing happen with micrograms and kilocalories. Many teachers invent like the Jew in the story, their own units of small and big calories. Nonsense, who allow uneducated teacher to teach?
The calory is set and is neither big or small, it is as was defined. If you want to express larger quantity of heat energy use muliplier like kilo or mega but not invent anything. Such invention only confuses and promotes confusion.

FDA replied: it's wrong but we allow it..., when I alerted them.

When mentioned ministers ignore my report and demand to correct, they only confirm that they are not educated properly, they cannot think clearly and independently and that they are unfit to hold the role of ministers for education.

What those ministers do understand if they cannot understand so basic issue?
Our education cannot possibly be better if we have such ministers.