PISA Results

John Bercow Excerpts

Tuesday 3rd December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Mr Nick Gibb (Bognor Regis and Littlehampton) (Con)]

I refer to my interests in the register.

My right hon. Friend is right to conclude that Britain’s poor standing in the PISA rankings is a reflection of Labour’s education policies and its supine relationship with the teacher unions. Does he share my view that university education faculties, which have trained generations of teachers, should take their share of blame? Should not the Institute of Education and Canterbury Christ Church, two of the biggest teacher training institutions, be held to account, not only for today’s poor figures but for the country’s long tail of underachievement? Education academics are quick to condemn much-needed reform, but there is always a deafening silence from them on days—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. I am extremely grateful to the hon. Gentleman. We must have short questions and short answers.

[Michael Gove]

Not for the first time, and I am sure not for the last time, my hon. Friend hits several nails squarely on the head.

--- Later in debate ---

[Several hon. Members]

rose—

[Mr Speaker]

Order. Nearly 50 colleagues are seeking to catch my eye, but I fear that many might end up disappointed. If I am to have any chance of accommodating the level of interest, what is needed is a question without preamble—that is to say, a request for information, which might be thought to be the meaning of the word “question”.

[Mike Thornton (Eastleigh) (LD)]

Does the Secretary of State accept that instead of always looking abroad for good practice he might come to my constituency, where the quality of education is superbly high, as it is in neighbouring constituencies in Hampshire, and he could look at how it achieves the excellence from which my daughter benefited?

--- Later in debate ---

[Michael Gove]

University technical colleges are an excellent innovation and we want to make sure that there are more high-performing UTCs.

[Mr Speaker]

I am pleased to say that 45 Back Benchers contributed in only 36 minutes of exclusively Back-Bench time, which is a commentary on the succinctness of both the questions and the answers. I thank colleagues for that.