What a pity Glasgow School of Art ceramic department may have to go (The Herald, February 18). It was such a big part of my life as I am first and foremost a potter.

When I studied ceramics at GSA the department was vibrant and exciting. I still joke that one of the reasons I chose to study ceramics was the department's legendary reputation for great parties. Head of department Alex Leckie was known to roast a whole stuffed pig in the kiln. It was an inspiring and unconventional environment where creativity flourished.

Ceramics have always been underrated in this country, unable, perhaps, to throw off its country-craft and sack-cloth image. In fact, it is a most fascinating and versatile medium - the act of creating with your hands is a sensual pleasure.

Probably the deleting of ceramics from the GSA syllabus is a popularity issue. As a subject it surely cannot be less worthy than jewellery or fashion design. It's just lost its sex appeal.

Perhaps it is too late to save the GSA ceramics department: how sad.
Nancy Smillie,
Glasgow.

I am dismayed to read Ruth Wishart commending the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama for its innovation (February 20). Indeed, it goes on to praise principal John Wallace for his "expansion" decisions, one of which is to freeze the Contemporary Performance Practice (CPP) course in the new academic year.

I am a recent graduate of the course, work as a contemporary theatre composer and I recently took over teaching the Sound and Composition Module to the latest first-year students of CPP. To say that CPP has a high value in the arts world is an understatement: this course has produced some of the finest artistic talent along with some of the most innovative and knowledgable educationalists of the past decade.

To take away CPP will deny the arts world of great talent, passion and vitality, and is a step back. This is not an expansion for the RSAMD, it is a sorry diminution back to a time when innovation was nowhere to be seen within those walls. Removing this course will return the academy to its dark ages. Yes, we will have fine musicians and actors, but where are our teachers, facilitators, thinkers?

Every institution struggles with financial difficulties. Make cuts across the board, and in a way that no course must suffer to the detriment of its artistic merit. Save CPP - let innovation live on.
Brian James-O'Sullivan,
Dennistoun, Glasgow.

There is little doubt that the CCP, with its core funding and its ability to generate extra income, has had a positive impact on children and young people and that it has increased the opportunities available to a wider range of artists and cultural organisations to work in schools. Through investment and development of talent, Scotland is producing cultural works for children and young people of world-class quality, and cultural co-ordinators have been key to bringing that work to the children of Scotland.

As this decision to phase out the programme was being made here in Scotland, in England a different picture seems to be emerging. Sir Brian McMaster, in his recent report, Supporting Excellence in the Arts, stated: "We must inspire a new generation of creative, culturally aware and culturally active individuals, giving people the chance to experience the power of culture at an early age. The (British) government announced in the Children's Plan on December 12 its ambition to move to a position where all children and young people, no matter where they live or what their background, have the opportunity to engage in five hours of cultural activity a week. This would be a remarkable achievement. As well as quantity, however, we must also see quality. The excellence and depth of the experience must form the core of any activity included in a "cultural offer" made to young people.

As we move beyond 2010, when the funding for Cultural Coordinators in Schools Scheme will stop, it is troubling to note that the Scottish Government, unlike its British counterpart, has no similar vision or strategy for the cultural life of our children and young people. Indeed, the Scottish Government will give up responsibility to local authorities and the Scottish Arts Council with no indication of a strategic approach to stimulate the role of cultural activities in the Curriculum for Excellence, and in the wider life of schools and learning communities.

We all need to work together to achieve our shared vision of a society of creative, culturally aware and culturally active individuals. The Scottish Government must give us all a clear indication that it not only shares that vision but is the driving force behind it. The decision on CCISS, and the subsequent lack of a government strategy for this fundamental area, leads me to fear that we will lose the benefits of the real achievements made and leave Scotland lagging behind the rest of the UK.
Tony Reekie, Chief Executive, Imaginate,
Edinburgh.