Astute Editorial On the ‘biggest equalizer’ - Education In the mainstream national discourse on how we can address inequality, we are often informed that education is the best possible tool not only to address inequality, particularly income, but that it is the best form of empowerment a society can give to its members. Some point to the fact that once obtained, education cannot be removed, what would happen to political favours for instance? Our self-glorifying politicians place themselves at the center of this understanding with the self-congratulating reality that education is one of the sectors receiving a huge share of the national budget. It is often not mentioned that such is expected for a sector employing more than 20 000 professionals and custodian of more than 700 000 pupils. It is not stated however that more than 80% of this expenditure goes to salaries. Instead, the dominating discourse of basic education is frequently just the boisterous statements of the education minister. It is for this reason that many did not predict an impasse would topple the learners’ examinations for two days. There should be a serious debate about this sector and it should start now. Lucia and Vaino are doing their part.