Sir, – Well done to Maria Steen on her article "Government implies caring for children at home is undesirable" (Opinion & Analysis, August 17th). During my career of 33 years in secondary and primary schools it was always emphasised, especially in later years, at in-service courses that parents were the primary educators of their children. Why has the Government a different approach to pre-school children? Surely parents, as primary educators, know and understand the needs of their pre-school children and especially what kind of care they need – homebased, crèche or otherwise. Surely it makes sense to support all parents, whatever their choice is. – Yours, etc,
M O’HALLORAN,
Dublin 9.