Education Your Views: They let us apply, then stopped grants

While I am sorry for the plight of 18-year-olds trying to get further education, I feel that for callous and cynical irresponsibility towards children, Essex county council's latest exploit must take the biscuit.

Having publicised the closing date for grant applications from 16-year- olds to study dance and thus encouraged parents to enter children for professional schools (the mother of one of my students has already spent more than pounds 200 taking her daughter to London auditions), Essex blandly announces, long after that closing date, that grants to dance students are out.

I wonder if any of the children receiving this postal brush-off will ever trust an older person's word again?

Since I understand that Essex's budget for education for the year is set at pounds 3.5m below government guidelines, I would really like to know: first, why the cut has been made; and second, what will happen to Lottery money available to Essex to help dance students. Will it descend into some bottomless pit and never be heard of again? Someone must answer these questions.

Leo Kersley, Harlow, Essex