Litter-picking lessons

SIR – I am in broad agreement with Lord Robathan’s suggestion that primary school pupils should be made to pick up litter as part of the National Curriculum (report, March 17).

However, two questions spring to mind. First, why does Lord Robathan not include pupils of secondary age (who no doubt drop more litter than younger children)? Secondly, while schools should educate children about caring for the environment, will Ofsted and the Department for Education support an initiative of this type? Such aspects of the school curriculum have become marginalised in the Government’s drive to make all schools “good or better”.

Academic progress and social responsibility should not be seen as mutually exclusive, but teachers have little or no time to pay anything other than lip service to “citizenship”. Richard Griffiths

Herne Bay, Kent