Gove turns on the education establishment

Michael Gove is tenacious. With strikes set to close one in four schools on Thursday, Gove has launched a direct assault on the left-wing teaching unions. In a consultation published today, Gove has announced that exceptional graduates in maths and science will be paid bursaries of up to £20,000 to undertake teaching training. He also indicates that responsibility for teacher training will shift from universities to schools; teachers will predominantly learn on the job, as they do under the successful Teach First scheme.

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Also, ministers will attempt to close failing training courses, which they see as the cause of extraordinary levels of wastage. According to the Telegraph, 10 per cent of recruits do not make it into the classroom and a further 10 per cent leave the profession after a year. Gove is conciliatory, but stresses this has to change.