Madam, – I commend Dr Michael John Gorman for his proposal towards tackling the problem of innovation in schools (Opinion, October 7th) and I agree wholeheartedly that there are very few opportunities for children to think creatively within the current school system.
However, I have to question his idea of creating “innovation hothouses” as a way of initiating this project. Hothousing promotes exclusivity, it can have extremely negative side-effects and is a term which I believe is outdated in today’s society.
In spite of Government cuts and lack of external investment, much has been achieved in the past few years to allow children to have outlets to perform in their areas of interest and to the level of their ability without using hothousing techniques. I believe an alternative which has an inclusive component for more students is required to resolve this issue. – Yours, etc,