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Tories to create more academies | |
(about 4 hours later) | |
The Conservatives have set out plans to allow hundreds more schools in England to become academies, free from local authority control. | |
Shadow education secretary Michael Gove told a meeting of head teachers he would bring in a new education bill within days of a Tory election victory. | |
It would also exempt the best schools from Ofsted inspections to allow the watchdog to focus on problem schools. | It would also exempt the best schools from Ofsted inspections to allow the watchdog to focus on problem schools. |
Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has also been discussing early years education plans. | |
Mr Gove, along with party leader David Cameron, said a Tory government would remove the need for schools to consult local authorities before converting to an academy. | |
This would allow schools to opt out of council control by September if the Tories win the general election, expected in May. | This would allow schools to opt out of council control by September if the Tories win the general election, expected in May. |
"We need a new generation of independent state schools run by teachers who know your child's name, not by politicians," he said. | |
The money will be targeted to closing the gap between children from disadvantaged backgrounds and their wealthier classmates Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg | |
He also announced plans to reform Ofsted and identify the 100 worst performing schools in England and place them in the hands of "school leaders with a proven track record of success". | |
Mr Cameron said: "We really do believe in giving schools more freedom and more control over their own affairs. | |
"So if schools want to do that [become academies], they'll have all those advantages of money flowing directly to them, of having more control over what goes on in the school, of being their own admissions authority." | |
'Scrapping databases' | |
In a speech to the Salvation Army, Mr Clegg stressed the importance of early years education in tacking inequality, and pledge £2.5bn to help cut school class sizes, recruit the best teachers and provide more one-to-one tuition. | |
An average primary school could see an extra £90,000 in its budget, he said - enough to cut class sizes from 27 to 20. In an average secondary school, the aim is to cut class sizes down to 16. | |
"The money will be targeted specifically to closing the gap between children from disadvantaged backgrounds and their wealthier classmates," he is expected to say. | |
Mr Clegg promised to pay for the reforms by "scrapping unnecessary government databases", scaling back education quangos and halving the size of the Children Schools and Families department in Whitehall. |