The Government advisers on spelling and grammar may have thought the text quoted was high quality in terms of its English, but it would have been better if the facts had been correct.

But I suppose such experts never studied the type of broad curriculum which included such material.

In 1980 multi-access computers were available and remote usage enabled them to be used in schools. The problems being solved were not necessarily complex even in business and industry. In the 1960s Lyons used mark-sensed cards with their commissioned first-generation computer to automate the ordering of their cakes. The system could not be described as “complex” even though it was innovative.

The clarity of the text quoted only makes it clear how wrong the authors are.

I expect we could say: “Over the past decade the educational advice the Government has been commissioning has become increasingly expensive. The cost seems to be inversely proportional to its clarity and usefulness.”

We need to make sure our schools system provides education for all in science and technology even if this means we have to pay for it.

PROFESSOR DON CONWAY

60a Cotes Road Barrow-upon-Soar Loughborough Leicestershire