Sir, - I wonder if Tim Nelligan (December 11th) read the same OECD report on educational standards as I did? The main thrust of the report is that parents' involvement in a child's education, through spending time with their children, communicating with them and providing books for them has a greater effect on a child's education than other factors. Less important factors include public spending on education.
This latter finding is supported by a survey reported in the Economist about two years ago which concluded that there was no correlation between the amount a country spent on education and the education received by its children.
The conclusion to be drawn is that future spending should be focused on educating parents on how to support children in school rather than throwing money aimlessly away on unproductive factors. - Yours, etc.,
Fintan Clancy, Carlingford Road, London NW3.