Critics and fans of Michael Gove alike accept that sometimes the Education Secretary can be a little too pugnacious. He often encourages the pantomime boos that accompany him, and will throw himself into any fight with gusto. But then the representatives of the leading teaching unions pop up to criticise his reforms, and it becomes very clear how Gove ended up like this.
Christine Blower’s interview on the Today programme was one notable example. The NUT general secretary argued that grades hadn’t necessarily been devalued, and that the reforms might devalue the achievements of those children who have already passed their exams. She said:
‘We think this is slightly rushed and also it tends to demean the achievements of students who have got GCSEs in the past.’
She explained that that ‘it’s the persistent use of expressions like ‘dumbing down’ that we think are not really acceptable.
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