Harsh lessons

One serious malady in education (your report, 26 February) has been the erosion of personal teacher authority over the years – not in the class-control discipline sense, but in the freedom within the curriculum sense for a teacher to exercise options and whatever emphases they choose in keeping with their own particular comfort and the comfort of each class of pupils.

Education has definitely become a looking-over-one's-shoulder occupation, answerable to far too many masters and left with no entrusted personal responsibility. Why bother with training teachers? There's an army of advisers, assorted experts and meddlers awaiting every new teacher who exits every training college. But the education of our children is too important to leave to teachers, they cry, and look where this attitude has got their children.

IAN JOHNSTONE

Forman Drive

Peterhead, Aberdeenshire

The Scottish Government has ordered that teachers must be regularly assessed throughout their careers (your report, 26 February).

They have proper qualifications, whereas the majority of politicians have none.

I suggest that MSPs should be similarly assessed to see if they are fit for office, especially since so many treat the Scottish Parliament like a school playground.

Poor arithmetic used while submitting expenses claims, failure to attend and failure to meet manifesto promises should lead to the sack without compensation.

I wonder how many would be left.

CLARK CROSS

Springfield Road

Linlithgow