Reading Ambrose Bierce on the train prompted me to find this:

"Education is an activity that occasions both hope and despair, people think that it will improve their life chances and so demand more of it.

This encourages politicians to give what they call priority to education; they take initiatives and spend our money on them. Then despair sets in.

Neither Government nor the people can give up the hope, so they seek to keep despair at bay by insisting that education be reformed. A period of febrile activity ensues.
[...]
It is easy to be cynical about a formal education system, but it is hard to be cynical enough."

~ Tyrrell Burgess, 'The Devil's Dictionary of Education.'

Half term break. I'm away to northern France.
Back in one week. Good health to you.