Only one educational system has solved the problem of how to find the time for extra demands on the curriculum and avoid taking treasured items out (“A debate that inspires revolutionary zeal”, Editorial, 14 February). It involves diminishing lessons: ”‘How many hours a day do you do lessons?’ said Alice ... ‘Ten hours the first day,’ said the Mock Turtle: ‘nine the next, and so on.’ ‘What a curious plan!’ exclaimed Alice. ‘That’s the reason they’re called lessons,’ the Gryphon remarked: ‘because they lessen from day to day.’” How’s that for a Paine-less solution?

Colin Richards, Spark Bridge, Cumbria.