Old school ties
Sir: Your leader of 16 May refers to Peter Mandelson as 'only dimly aware of the pools of poverty, indolence and human decline'. While it is fashionable to jump on the bandwagon of critics of Mr Mandelson, in this instance I would like to come to his defence.
Far from being 'acquainted with his con- stituents through the working-class aristoc- racy who run his constituency association', Mr Mandelson spent several years setting up the Winchester Project, a community project run for disadvantaged people in London's inner city. He remains a patron.
Among other things, the project was very successful in providing education to habitual truants. Indeed, in its last year as an independent 'school' all of its 'pupils' gained passes at GCSE. Sadly, after the advent of Secondary Learning Support Services and the withdrawal of funding by Camden Council, the 'school' was run by SLSS, although it remained, until recently, in our premises.
The quality of education has deteriorat- ed dramatically, with limited success in public examinations. Costs have more than doubled.
I hope that Mr Mandelson will use his experience of provision of community- based learning schemes to provide more suitable education to many of those young people who fall outside the traditional schooling path.
James Close 6 Middle Road, Harrow-on-the-Hill, Middlesex
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