As Gordon Brown is currently putting his alternative policies in place what do you think of his education ones

As a parent and granparent I read with horror the changes he wishes to make. We now can have 5 minute lessons on subjects such as mental arithmetic etc. Children are to be encouraged to learn alternative languages not already in the curriculum and so it would appear the demise or back burnering of the trditional 3 R's. We have had an educational system that has stood the test of time, I know the illiteracy is a problem but the new proposals are not going to help and based on what I have read only increase this.