I WOULD like to clarify a few points relating to your coverage (LET, January 15) of my speech on moral education.

I did not attack the teaching of morality in schools. Indeed, I said that most teachers do a good job of laying down rules of good behaviour and that schools themselves are very moral places.

What I did express concern about was the lack of clear moral guidelines in society at large. This absence of an agreed moral code makes teachers' jobs most difficult but also more vital.

For this reason the international education conference which I addressed endorsed my suggestion that the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority should establish a national forum to support teachers in this essential work.

DR NICK TATE, Chief Executive, School Curriculum and Assessment Authority, Newcombe House, Notting Hill Gate, London.

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