SIR - Eric Firth is quite right to celebrate the learning achievements of the schoolchildren of Finland, who topped the charts in almost every core subject (T&A, December 10).
However, Mr Firth's non-sequitur moan about Margaret Thatcher would have been better replaced by the other key observation that Scandinavian schoolchildren do not start their formal education until the age of seven, making the young Finns' achievements even more impressive.
Perhaps the real question is why, after the billions our government has spent on extending our schooling range almost back to the womb, the results of this are not only unproductive but, when compared to the Finnish outcome, would actually appear to have a measurably negative effect on learning ?
Our children are different? Our teaching is different? Our parents are different? One or more of these must be true.
Graham Hoyle, Kirkbourne Grove, Baildon
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