Secure knowledge

SIR – I read with interest Peter Tait’s article (telegraph.co.uk, March 12) on the challenges facing educators over the next 20 years. While it is unwise to speculate on the future of working life, no doubt it will be very different.

However, the logical consequence of this is not to abandon the rigorous knowledge-based curriculum, which has served mankind since the Greeks.

Skills such as problem-solving and teamwork so desired by employers (who are quick to bemoan the lack of basic “three Rs” education at other times) cannot be taught in isolation. They coexist with a secure knowledge base that the problem-solver can make ready use of when faced with a particular challenge. Woe betide the doctor who has to Google symptoms in order to diagnose an illness. Kieran Mclaughlin

Headmaster, Durham School