Ancient & modern – 21 February 2004

Parents who find the state education system unsatisfactory but cannot afford private schooling are getting together to hire tutors to teach their children at home. The Roman public servant Pliny the Younger (AD 61–112) would have applauded. Pliny was visiting his native town of Comum (modern Como) when he found out that the young son of a fellow citizen was being taught not locally but in faraway Mediolanum (Milan) — and he was not the only one. Baffled, Pliny remonstrated with the fathers for not raising their children in their native town where they belonged, adding that at home they could also be guaranteed to be properly brought up. He then suggested that they could all club together to engage their own teachers in Como, spending on salaries what they now spent on travel, lodgings and expenses for the children. In a burst of generosity, Pliny went on to promise that he would contribute a third more to whatever sum they raised.

Pliny then adds a fascinating coda, saying that he would in fact be willing to promise the whole amount, only he was afraid that the authorities might then take over and abuse his generosity ‘as I have seen in many places where teachers’ salaries are paid from public funds’. The only solution, he goes on, is that the appointments of teachers should be made by the parents who pay for them. In that way, a wise and conscientious choice will be made about how their own money is spent: ‘people who may be careless about another person’s money are sure to be careful about their own, and they will see to it that only a suitable recipient shall be found for my money if he is also to have theirs.’ He goes on to hope his proposal will be so successful that, far from sending their children elsewhere, the parents will find children from elsewhere coming to them.

The story is to be found in a letter Pliny wrote to his friend the historian Tacitus, asking him if there was anyone he could recommend for the particular post in question (though Pliny makes it clear that the final choice will rest with the parents). For Pliny, both his own and local pride were at stake here. He was not about to waste his money on second-raters; nor will the parents behind the current initiative. Nor, for that matter, should our schools, let alone our teacher-training establishments. To adapt Thucydides, it is men and women who are the schools, not the classrooms or playing fields.