EVEN in my day, before grade inflation, one used to have to be, barring utter catastrophes, pretty thick, lazy, and/or chaotic in order to be awarded third-class honours.

The point, therefore, is not that those in this category (intending to enter the teaching profession) should be obliged to pay for their relevant postgraduate course, but whether they should be considered for such a role in the first place.

With respect to the criticism by the chief inspector of schools about boring teachers and dull lessons, a good class is by no means necessarily one which pupils find amusing, nor an entertaining one. It is invariably one which will further their education in any sense of the term.

If a given member of staff manages, sometimes, normally or always, to combine being interesting and instructive, so much the better, but this can hardly be expected to be the norm.

Much schooling is bound to be viewed as a largely pointless chore by most pupils, and discipline, though preferably not of the corporal variety, should be employed when necessary, to encourage their attention.

DAVID DIMENT, Riverside Court, Oxford