Birmingham Schools

Debate between Lord Gove and Alun Cairns

Monday 9th June 2014 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

The hon. Gentleman makes a very important point. We are seeing a level of collaboration between schools—through teaching school alliances, academy chains and informal partnerships—that is a very powerful driver of improved standards. It ensures that individual teachers, who may have concerns about what is happening in their own school, have access to a wider network of professionals who can help them to deal with the challenges they face.

[Alun Cairns (Vale of Glamorgan) (Con)]

Extremism in schools has, sadly, been going on for more than a decade. Will the Secretary of State reassure the House that Peter Clarke will have unfettered access to all paperwork going back over that period?

[Michael Gove]

I will do everything in my power—I hope every agency will—to help Peter Clarke in his job.

Free Schools (Funding)

Debate between Lord Gove and Alun Cairns

Monday 12th May 2014 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I absolutely shall. The first thing to bear in mind is that, as the hon. Lady rightly points out, Darlington is an exceptionally high-performing local authority. One of the reasons for that is that many of its schools have converted to academy status with the support of the local authority, and Darlington shines out as an enlightened Labour local authority. I will share the exact figures with the hon. Lady, but I should stress that many of the independent schools that have changed to become free schools are now open to all and an excellent standard of education is available to children on a comprehensive basis. Many of those arguing for independent schools to become free schools are Labour MPs such as the hon. Member for Barrow and Furness (John Woodcock) and the right hon. Member for Blackburn (Mr Straw), and I am delighted to have been able to work with two more Labour MPs supporting our free schools programme.

[Alun Cairns (Vale of Glamorgan) (Con)]

How many new places have been created by the free schools policy, and how does the demand compare with that for local authority schools?

[Michael Gove]

So far, some 83,000 places have been created, and as I pointed out earlier, these schools are overwhelmingly over-subscribed.

PISA Results

Debate between Lord Gove and Alun Cairns

Tuesday 3rd December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

Poland does not spend more than us; indeed, Vietnam, which outperforms us in mathematics, spends significantly less than us. What they do have is a commitment to higher standards that are rigorously policed. Poland’s curriculum is modelled on, or is similar to, our English baccalaureate. Both Vietnam and Poland have a determination to place standards on a higher plane than those on the Opposition Front Bench would contemplate.

[Alun Cairns (Vale of Glamorgan) (Con)]

Does the Secretary of State agree that the outcomes in Wales are nothing short of a scandal and that they are the ultimate demonstration of Labour’s education policy in action? There are parents across Wales, and even some in this House, who are genuinely worried about the future of their children’s education. Will the Secretary of State encourage the Welsh Government to follow his robust reforms?

[Michael Gove]

Wales acts almost as a controlled sample. Welsh children are as intelligent and motivated as children in England, but unfortunately in Wales there are no academies, no free schools, no league tables, no chief inspector such as Sir Michael Wilshaw and no determination to reform like this coalition Government. It is an object lesson in what happens when people abandon reform and succumb to the NUT orthodoxy, which I am afraid has suffocated aspiration for far too many children in the Principality.

GCSEs

Debate between Lord Gove and Alun Cairns

Tuesday 11th June 2013 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. When we put forward draft programmes of study for different curriculum areas, some of them attracted more controversy than others. It is fair to say that design and technology was one of the most controversial. We have listened to some of the critics, and a new draft will be forthcoming in a few weeks’ time.

[Alun Cairns (Vale of Glamorgan) (Con)]

I pay tribute to the Secretary of State, who is responding to the demands of employers and higher and further education providers, and to the needs of pupils, by reintroducing rigour to the exam system. Does he share my concern that pupils in Wales, who may want to seek employment opportunities across the UK and beyond, could be disadvantaged if the Welsh Government refuse to follow this reform? Will he agree to make the qualification available, irrespective of the Welsh Government’s judgment, to those schools that want to pursue this new rigorous GCSE?

[Michael Gove]

Absolutely—this qualification should be available to all state schools that have high aspirations for their students. Next Monday, I look forward to meeting Andrew R.T. Davies, the gifted gentleman who leads for the Conservatives in the Welsh Assembly. I will also talk to Welsh Conservative MPs, of whom there are a growing number, to see how we can take this forward effectively.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Gove and Alun Cairns

Monday 21st January 2013 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

May I take this opportunity to pay tribute to the right hon. Lady’s commitment to social mobility and the work she has done in encouraging internships in this House? I shall look as quickly as I can into that case and discuss it with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills.

[Alun Cairns (Vale of Glamorgan) (Con)]

I look forward to the Minister’s proposals for improving outcomes for children with special educational needs. However, for those parents who are still forced to use the tribunal process, the delay before they get to that tribunal is considerable and can lead to additional pressure and for too long leave children without the education they need. Will he agree to discuss the matter with the Department, and seek to improve those outcomes?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Lord Gove and Alun Cairns

Monday 29th October 2012 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

I certainly shall. As we all know, the hon. Gentleman is a teacher with extensive experience of working in some of the toughest schools. I am glad that there has been an improvement in academic results in North Lincolnshire, but yes, there are continuing question marks over the quality of marking at GCSE.

[Alun Cairns (Vale of Glamorgan) (Con)]

Questions raised about GCSEs earlier this year place even greater emphasis on the need for rigour in the exam system. Will my right hon. Friend encourage other parts of the United Kingdom to follow suit, and does he agree that clarity is needed for pupils and students, universities and employers, so that they compare equally?

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend has made a very good point, and I look forward to working with the Welsh Assembly to ensure that standards there can be raised to the level enjoyed by students in England.

Exam Reform

Debate between Lord Gove and Alun Cairns

Monday 17th September 2012 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

Well designed examinations ensure that people have not just the knowledge but the skill and deep understanding to show that they have been well taught. The best head teachers have argued for that view, and I am happy to embrace it.

[Alun Cairns (Vale of Glamorgan) (Con)]

The statement by the Secretary of State is excellent news for pupils in England. The way in which GCSEs have been discredited over the past decade or more has been completely unacceptable. Pupils in my constituency and across Wales, however, will still be subject to the same failed model of GCSEs. Will he do everything possible to encourage his counterpart in Wales to engage in the process and bring about either the same model as in England or one as close to it as possible, and to stop scoring party political points?

[Michael Gove]

I am grateful to my hon. Friend for making his point. As someone married to a Welsh girl, it grieves me that the Welsh education system went backwards under Labour, and it grieves me even more that every objective assessment of what has happened under Labour in Wales shows that education has improved more quickly and effectively in England than in Wales. I hope that the Education and Skills Minister in Wales will embrace the progressive reforms that the coalition Government have put forward. He now has an opportunity to show that he is ready to operate in a constructive fashion.

Education Maintenance Allowance

Debate between Lord Gove and Alun Cairns

Wednesday 19th January 2011 Commons Chamber

[Michael Gove]

The hon. Lady makes a good point. We want to ensure that learners with caring responsibilities are looked after. They are a small but growing number, who face enormous challenges and are living heroically, attempting to balance their responsibilities. In any replacement scheme, we need to ensure better targeting. The truth is that the current scheme does not effectively target those people.

[Alun Cairns (Vale of Glamorgan) (Con)]

The NFER data that the Secretary of State has highlighted are startling, in that they demonstrate the amount of dead-weight and inefficiency in the existing arrangements. Can my right hon. Friend tell us whether he has had any helpful suggestions from the Opposition as to what changes could be made to target support more efficiently, particularly in light of the needs of many students that he has highlighted?

[Michael Gove]

My hon. Friend makes a good point. I have had a couple of helpful suggestions from Opposition Back Benchers—I shall not name them—who recognise that we need to make reductions and believe that support can be better targeted. I have looked at their submissions and they have helped to shape my thinking. In the same way, I have been fortunate in that a number of Liberal Democrat and Conservative colleagues have made points to me about how a replacement scheme should be targeted. Many of the arguments had occurred to me beforehand, but many were made with such force and passion and were backed up with such persuasive facts that they have certainly shaped our policy. The opportunity exists for other Members to make such points, and although I am not sure that the seminar-style atmosphere of an Opposition day debate is necessarily ideal for such submissions, I am always grateful to receive them.