IN reply to Mark Davies, I would agree with practically everything he said in his letter.

Of course, teachers are not to blame for the increasing number of arsonists, drug addicts, thieves and robbers who roam the streets at night.

It is, of course, their parents who are to blame, parents who not long ago were schoolchildren themselves, an increasing number of whom are single mothers.

It is the prevailing attitude of the education system today that has resulted in the children and parents who behave in such an irresponsible manner.

Education took a huge step backwards with the destruction of our grammar schools, and the elimination of selection, based on a false notion of equality.

We need a more rigorous system of education for the brighter children, for they are the future inventors and wealth creators of this country.

How can we compete in this world if such children are not educated to the highest standard possible?

Nowadays, selection of any kind is viewed as immoral, which is quite wrong.

Of course, the process is not perfect, but what is in this world? We threw the baby out with the bathwater when grammar schools were all but abolished.

We cannot provide the more rigorous education such children need in a modern comprehensive school where children of all abilities are present. Furthermore, children of lesser ability will benefit, for they will have a greater opportunity to shine if selection were present, for they would be amongst others of similar ability.

Excellence, however, is no longer a goal in current thinking, as the less able may have hurt feelings if they find others are more able than they.

For example, a schoolgirl in our street told me they had a race at school that day.

On asking who had won I was told “Oh, we don't have winners, that's too competitive.”

What do teachers think life is all about, I wonder. As for Smithills, I would not mind betting that, once it is fully established as an academy, parents will be queuing up to get their children into it.

David James

Bolton