Estelle Morris on Gove – Is there a master plan?

Amongst the consternation with Michael Gove this weekend – particularly his comments on the Andrew Marr show about the upcoming strike, Estelle Morris gets to the heart of the issue. Where is the long term plan amongst the cost cutting and curriculum narrowing? There surely is some big picture in the head of Gove other than taking us back to his halcyon 1970s schooling?

Changes introduced this year could mean that in four years’ time, local authorities will have so little capacity and resource that they won’t have a central service to support vulnerable children.

Abolishing the TDA meets today’s political agenda for cutting quangos, but where is the vision as to how teachers will be recruited and trained, and how they will access professional development? Teaching schools that arguably will take on this role don’t yet exist and not enough are planned to support every school and every teacher.

Getting rid of Becta helps to cut Gove’s budget, but what about the consequences? Where are the plans to embed technology in schools, to make sure children benefit from the technological revolution and develop the digital skills the economy will need? It is difficult to find any ministerial comment on information technology, let alone a strategy for the future.