In reply to J Allen (Letters, February 28) about the new schools admission system - when the 11-plus was abandoned in the mid-Seventies, the two Brighton grammar schools were absorbed into the new set-up.

The previous catchment areas policy was changed to one of parental choice and proximity.

Parents who could afford to do so moved to gain admission to the schools of their choice. While this was not helpful but quite legal, it was not the cause of the present upheaval. In 1987, a new council was elected and one has to ask why it has taken 20 years for the powers-that-be to raise these issues and deal with them in a fair and honest way.

The closure of Comart (previously Stanley Deason, then Marina High) aggravated the shortage of school places and increased pressure on other schools. East Brighton needs its own local school. Schools are a focal point for communities.

This new system means more travelling, longer days and fatigue.

There has to be a better way.

Surely our young people deserve something far better than the hitand- miss of a lottery.

We should be ashamed to be thought of as unthinking and lacking compassion for the under-privileged because this new system will not benefit them in any real sense.

  • Margaret Ashley Waldegrave Road, Brighton