Yes, very much agree with this. As a Music teacher, I see every day how beneficial soft skills are in everyday life. I think a lot of the issues arise from the deep seated trust institutions place in ‘hard’ quantitative data over qualitative data- largely because it is easier to compare. I would recommend the article ‘The McDonaldisation of Education’ by John Kratus- which talks a lot about this shift from emphasis on value and purpose in education to observable (and often hollow) outcomes.