What the author of todays editorial, "Science first", really means is "economics first", as the following quotes clearly show:

 

". . . brighter students are focusing on tougher [science] subjects, because they realise this will give them a better chance of the plum university places and so improve their career prospects".

 

"The cleverest pupils are going for the in-demand - and ultimately most lucrative - subjects. This is an encouraging step in the right direction, . . "  

Science used to be known as "natural philosophy" and those who dedicated themselves to it, laying the foundations of modern science and technology, and thus our modern world, were passionately curious about the natural world, NOT about securing "plum university places" or "improved career prospects".

Being desirous of knowledge and understanding is what makes us human (at least, some of us some of the time; and, interestingly, is what the Hebrew God cursed us for! See Genesis Revisited), while concern for our place and status (e.g. career prospects!) in the social hierarchy is rooted, as is the socio-economic order itself, in our primitive animal nature.