What school left out: The real-life lessons we all missed

Updated July 28, 2025, 1:10 p.m. | By East Coast Breakfast

Rugby rules, tax returns and cooking basics… Here’s what YOU said should have been on the school timetable.

On East Coast Breakfast, Darren, Sky and Carmen took a nostalgic but practical trip down memory lane to ask: why didn’t school teach us the things we actually need in adult life?

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Carmen opened the conversation with a confession many can relate to – she doesn’t understand how taxes work. Despite managing to log in and see the figures, she’s lost from there. She admitted that she would have appreciated some lessons on tax returns over algebra any day.

Sky, who took accounting, admitted he also never learnt how to submit a tax return. In peak patriotic form, he suggested that since South Africa is a rugby powerhouse, the game should be a school subject. "Imagine understanding off-sides as well as we do quadratic equations!" he joked.

Darren offered a tasty suggestion – learning to cook seven proper meals for a week. Not just the basics of home economics but real-life meal planning, shopping on a budget and cooking for a family.

You chimed in with your own suggestions. One caller noted the need for proper financial education, including how money works, budgeting, investing and avoiding debt. Another suggested everyday DIY skills like changing a tyre, jump-starting a car and replacing light bulbs.

Carmen admitted she currently has two bulbs out at home and has no clue how to fix them.

“I have two light bulbs that are in the dark now 'cause I dunno how to change it [sic],” she said.

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Other brilliant ideas included teaching etiquette (especially trolley manners), conflict resolution in relationships, how to manage in-laws and friendships and even a basic course on what to do in an emergency like a fire.

One listener’s favourite? Wrestling studies, just so we all understand WWE better. Who doesn’t want to know how the RKO actually works?

While algebra has its place, many South Africans are still trying to figure out adulting one YouTube tutorial at a time. It’s never too late to learn but wouldn’t it have been great to start with the basics?