I'm sure I irritate many people by a capacity for sweeping generalisation, but it does seem to me that this phenomenon needs to be viewed in a much wider context. AFAK, Ivan Ilyitch first enunciated the relevant principle [though I shouldn't be at all surprised to learn that it goes back to some ancient Greek]: like a river building dams and meanders, every organisation finally frustrates its original purpose. Fallible memory suggests this was formulated in the context of XIII-th century monastic communities: but plenty of examples surround us today, and nowhere better than in education. Formal maths teaching put me off the subject for years, as it has discouraged so many others. In this respect nothing has changed throughout my lifetime, despite many well-intentioned attempts to improve the situation. No solution to the problem can be more than temporary (at best) which does not recognise the fundamental administrative contradiction involved. Fred Lunnon