Lessons from Latin

Kerre McIvor’s article on education (“Credits where credit is due”, July 19) is a beautiful marker of the benefits of Latin in high school.

First, by memorising passages, for the examination, she developed the faculty of memory (now largely outsourced to the internet). Then she honed her ability to apply one language to another. Important in an era of diversity.

Second, she studied Julius Caesar, the archetypical strongman.

Third, she became aware of the flow of people and power in the Mediterranean world, as Caesar took his legionnaires into France. Later his successors moved further into Germany and Britain. Such is the current flow of Mediterranean people. Discomforting to northern Europeans, it is inherent in the geography of Europe.

So much learnt by the age of 15. Why does the Ministry of Education want to banish Latin from the curriculum?