On the train here, by coincidence, I spoke with a British drama teacher who was visiting the area. We agreed that the government's effective "anti-arts" approach to education, which seemed especially disdainful of drama, was folly and short sighted. Drama and creativity have been known to have been an important element of human endeavour and enjoyment for literally thousands of years. The Sociologist, Yuval Noah Harari, in his book “Sapiens”, points out that a critical element of the human sociological journey has been deeply influenced by story-telling and the human ability to communicate ideas via metaphor and role playing. I am sure it is of great significance that the citizens of Pompeii took drama seriously enough to afford it one of Pompeii's most magnificent buildings (grander than their temples, I note). A brutalist approach to education, where each channel of study requires an immediate and reckonable contribution to our balance of payments is certainly not a strategic way to enhance our civilisation and I’d welcome any Minister for Education who recognised this as much as the Romans did.