Technology must not sweep away love of reading, says playwright

He said that English and the humanities are vitally important to a child's education and should not be sidelined.

Sir Tom, who penned Jumpers and The Real Thing, is due to address the Prince's Teaching Institute summer school next week. The school, which encourages teachers to rediscover their love of their subject, will look at English, history and geography.

Sir Tom said: "I am aware, as everybody has to be, that there's more competition for one's attention nowadays. The printed word is no longer as in demand as when I was of the age of pupils or even at the age of the teachers teaching them.

"We live in a world of technology," he added, with "the moving image" taking precedence in many children's lives over "the printed page".

"I think that's to the detriment."

He added that his sons and grandchildren all know new things that he is unaware of due to technology, and that he was not making a case for "good and bad".

"I just don't want the printed page to get swept away by that."

Sir Tom suggested that English and the humanities have been affected by a drive to put science-based subjects first.

"There was a period when I was 30 or 40 when science teaching was felt to have lagged and felt to be the area which would improve everybody's life, and I'm sure that that was the case and that was the right moment for that."

He added: "Since then we have been more and more worried about the humanities being neglected and at the level of higher education that is a cause of enormous concern."