Charles Clarke is right to want to encourage every child to do the very best they can. It is good to raise aspirations but cruel to do so unrealistically. There has been a tendency in the recent past to be reluctant to fail pupils at anything. This has been for the best motives but it has denied them information valuable to their futures.The education system is about enabling people to discover what they can do, what they like doing and where they want to go; and about achieving goals they set themselves. He is proof that some people can rise above their ability; he is a man born in the right bed, with the right parents at the right time. He is very right-wing and bombards people with memoranda.PROFESSOR ALAN SMITHERSEducation expertThe Prince is half-right.

We need to have a society that encourages them to do that, not to force things into their heads It can take a long time. I’ve often thought there is a case for raising the school-leaving age.I profoundly disagree with the Prince; he tries hammering everyone presumably because he is so inadequate himself. We have to create more room for people to express their genuine talents. The world is not just a plaything for a few people.We live in a class-endemic society – these kind of thoughts are going to come from people such as Prince Charles. There’s nothing surprising about what he said, but it does fly in the face of his wonderful efforts at the Prince’s Trust.So he perfectly embodies the contradiction between a society going towards modernity and fighting entrenched class values.TONY BENN Former Labour ministerEverybody has genius in them and the aim of education is to find their potential.

I think on sober reflection he will recognise that.SUSIE ORBACH Psychotherapist and authorPeople should get above their stations. I absolutely welcome as much social mobility and aspiration as possible. Everybody should recognise it makes a substantial difference.On the other hand, he expresses a view that most people would not recognise; a lot of us went into politics to get every child to recognise they have immensely more potential than they recognise. Education in its original Latin sense is to “lead out” – it is not all about churning out technocratic qualifications, valuable though they may be. He is not qualified to comment on what motivates ordinary people.It would be the final insult if we took away from very often desperate people the only thing that they have left, which is hope For them to aspire is laudable, not to be criticised. It does not surprise me, but it is regrettable.PETER KILFOYLEFormer Labour ministerPrince Charles has the right to his opinion, but the pity is that it is not an informed opinion as he lives in such a remote way.

Other people have to gain their own authority and opportunities.He speaks as he does because of his education, his privileged position and his inherited wealth and role.It is not surprising he is out of touch with how ordinary people strive to make their way in the world and how difficult it can often be for a woman, not to mention someone who is black, who is trying to find the right route to seek out the appropriate way of improving her lot. Prince Charles has got to be aware that the rank and file exists – it does exist in the Army, but he is in civvy street. For a future king, he does ruffle a few feathers.JOAN BAKEWELLBroadcaster and writerIt is very old-fashioned Prince Charles is where he is by accident of birth That’s his good fortune. Achievement is more important than qualifications.Many people can defy their social standing through their own creativity. No matter what the profession, the most important thing for youngsters is to follow their heart and we should be with them and be there for them. No one would choose to have that yoke around their neck and he has done more than most apprentice monarchs to fill in the gaps.GLENDA JACKSON Labour MPThe Prince’s comments bear no reality to what’s happening on the ground. We suffer from a poverty of aspiration, not an excess of aspiration, and I don’t believe that where you are born, you die.The Government should be encouraging much more aspiration in people.

It is not purely a matter of education; society has to accept that everybody is a unique individual and should assist in developing that It isn’t that the Prince shouldn’t comment on things He should But he should comment when he knows the facts. On this he is really off-beam.TREVOR BAYLIS InventorI think it is outrageous When I was a child, there was a distinct social order People can now leap through the old-fashioned social ladder. For some, not all, hard work is something they don’t have to be bothered with, and most people who deal with the products of the modern education system recognise this.True, Charles has not earned his position through his education, but that is a misfortune of his. If children stop aiming high we will never progress.I’ve often thought he was a man ahead of his time, and I rather like the idea of having an opinionated monarch.ROGER SCRUTONPhilosopherThere’s not one view in this memo; there are several. I agree with his view on the modern education system – that it encourages people to imagine themselves as this and that. It is pretty rich coming from someone coming from his extraordinarily privileged background, but there’s a tiny element of truth.Children are not allowed to fail an exam, but failure is something important to learn to deal with. Wherever you come from, whatever your background, you should be able to succeed.