The extent to which the National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts should inspire people who have left formal education is the most contentious aspect of the early responses to the public consultation on Nesta. "Creativity gets stamped out of people through formal education - Nesta could reverse that trend," said Jeremy Newton, Nesta's chief executive. Public opinion is divided on whether Nesta should concentrate most of its grant money on developing the public appreciation of science, technology and the arts. Some argue the money is just a small fraction of that needed.