Evidence, Michael?

I’ve been listening to the reports on the leaked paper concerning curriculum and examination arrangements in England with interest this morning. A lot of what’s being reported is along the lines of “Michael Gove feels that” or “Michael Gove thinks that”.

Whatever changes are made to the secondary schools system should be based on evidence – not someone’s personal thoughts or feelings or political ideology. It could, of course, be the case that simply changing the method of assessment might just suddenly improve standards for all – but I suspect that the issues facing schools, teachers, parents and students today are rather more complex to resolve than simply becoming fixated on this part of the system.

It seems to me that what’s apparently being proposed is more of a tactic to divert our attention away from what we probably ought to be focussing on. What I want to know from the education secretary is how we’re going to properly fund and structure our schools in the future so that all children – not just the socially advantaged – have the best possible chance to reach their potential.