James Bargent should know better than to describe Mexico as a Central American country (“Releasing the stranglehold”, 25 May). Mexicans are often sensitive to such geographic faux pas, especially as the country is one-third of the North American Free Trade Agreement. In terms of his analysis of the education sector, things are quite possibly worse than he suggests. I spent 10 years teaching there and while the country has some excellent educational establishments, many appoint teachers through cronyism and nepotism. There are many horror stories of Mexican education, but there are many successes, too, mostly due to the help of caring parents, determination and hard work.

Peter Hardy, Ex-teacher of English in Mexico.