George Radwanski - Radwanski Report

Radwanski Report

Radwanski resigned from the Star in 1985 and accepted an appointment by Ontario Premier David Peterson to head up an inquiry for the Ministry of Education into Ontario's drop-out report.

Radwanski's findings were published in 1987 as the Ontario Study of the Relevance of Education, and the Issue of Dropouts commonly known as the Radwanski Report. Radwanski concluded that the education system had become irrelevant due to the economy's shift from manufacturing to services. He found that students were uninterested in what they were being taught and did not gain the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in a modern economy.

He issued a series of recommendations including the implementation of early childhood education, standardized testing, "destreaming" of high schools, an "outcome-based" education and the replacement of the credit system with a common core curriculum.

Several of his recommendations were taken up by subsequent governments including destreaming in grade nine (though not later), an outcomes-based curriculum in grades 1 to 9 and standardized testing at various levels.

Following his study, Radwanski became a public policy and communications consultant in both the public and private sectors. In 1996 he was appointed by the federal government to conduct a review of Canada Post Corporation's mandate.

Radwanski also served as a speech writer to Prime Minister Jean Chrétien, who later appointed him Privacy Commissioner.