I would say higher maths is important in schooling primarily because almost no child "knows" what they are going to do for the rest of their lives. Given how i

I would say higher maths is important in schooling primarily because almost no child "knows" what they are going to do for the rest of their lives. Given how important each field of maths is to many different technical and non-technical careers and how long it can take to cover and understand them all you don't want to hamstring anyone who might need it, either when studying for a STEM career or when changing careers. Do politicians and school administrators go gah-gah for easy measurement metrics? Sure, but I would argue focusing on maths is one of the few instances where it's not really a bad thing.