Credit worthy
Sir: I have been a proponent of education vouchers for many years but I would favour tax credits or even Ferdinand Mount's interesting suggestion (1 August) that all teachers' salaries should be paid by the local authority if either of them could be brought in sooner than a voucher system.
As state education costs more and more to produce less and less in satisfaction and pupil achievement, the urgency is to make use of the superior efficiency and economy of private schools. All of these methods would rapidly reduce the number of children in state schools by putting private schooling within the reach of all parents who want it. Many private schools already cost less than state schools, and as their number expanded to meet demand (for example by consortia of teachers renting surplus local authority schools) more would do so. It follows that helping parents in various ways to meet fees would save millions now being spent on state school places.
Marjorie Seldon The Thatched Cottage, Godden Green, Sevenoaks, Kent
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