Our MP, Michael Gove, is becoming a real force in the education debate. Conservatives have, with Ian Duncan-Smith’s Centre for Social Justice, staked out a leadership position in the field of social justice. Michael’s work will help the Conservatives to lead in the debate on education.

It strikes me as I try to resolve societal, business or other problems in my own mind, that the answer is always education, or at least nearly always involves an element of education in any solution.

So, if education can be seen as the answer, then it must be important that our education system works to the benefit of those in receipt of it. I know that’s pretty obvious, but there’s so much about our education system that needs improvement. And so it’s good to have Michael’s intellect and energies applied to childrens’ education.

Some of the statistics Michael quotes in his article – Helping pupils start with ABC -in this week’s Sunday Times, are awful. Michael quotes:

• “..we still can’t get half of 16-year-olds to the basic level of five good GCSE passes including maths and English.”
• “Already we have more than a million young people who’re not in employment, education or training …”
• “The leading researchers of standards at Durham University have shown that millions spent on government reading schemes have had essentially no effect.”

The Conservatives, through Michael, are the ones putting forward the progressive policies to improve our education system and thereby individual educational performance.

Michael is pushing hard to improve our literacy performance, saying,

“Tragically, however, the educational establishment overturned tried and tested methods of teaching reading in the past century because these methods, which we now call synthetic phonics, were thought too rigidly conservative, mere “rote learning” that entrenched an authoritarian worldview.”

But the so-called progressive methods the establishment favoured haven’t conquered illiteracy.”

“But there is strong evidence that it is precisely the embrace of teaching methods once derided as stuffily conservative that can conquer illiteracy and give children from poorer backgrounds a better start in life.”

This is what Michael says are his challenges:

• ” …eradicate the plague of reading failure in our schools.”
• “ …we may face a battle with the educational establishment.”

Michael says in his article that “…will be unveiling plans later this week to target resources and innovation at those most in need, …”

Important stuff, this.