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Many parents of schoolchildren will be alarmed and cross, but not surprised, to learn almost one in 10 trainee teachers falls short of acceptable literacy and numeracy standards. The problem is not new. It reflects fundamental weaknesses in our education system that have worried parents and employers for many years. Australia’s slide in international testing bears out the trend. When poor literacy and numeracy skills of trainee teachers were identified a few years ago, the Coalition introduced LANTITE (Literacy and Numeracy Test for Initial Teacher Education Students) in 2016. It is a good check, requiring students to reach a certain level of numeracy and literacy before being allowed to graduate. But what is disconcerting, as Richard Ferguson reports on Monday, is that the situation has deteriorated further in four years. Last year, 9.3 per cent of students failed to meet the numeracy benchmark and 8.3 per cent failed in literacy; worse than in 2016-17.