Is Michael Gove a dangerous egomaniac who is ruining UK education?

First topic message reminder :

Our well informed Secretary Of State for Education has decided that as it will soon be the 400th anniversary of the writting of the King James version of the bible every school in England is to have a Celebration copy......
 

It is understood that every school in England will receive a copy of the Bible, which will include a foreword by Education Secretary Michael Gove.
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2011/11/25/michael-gove-puts-bible-every-school_n_1113099.html?ref=uk

 
 
Whilst I can somewhat understand the giving of a copy to every school but why does it have to have foreword by Gove?.....­.Is this just a Tory Minister going on an EGO TRIP/
 
I would ask every Headmaster­/Mistress to remove the pages with the Words of Gove on them......

Association of ideas

Sadly, I think Mr Gove only listens to those voices he wants to hear. He may talk to himself a lot.

Parents of academy pupils told not to talk about alleged £2m fraud

From an article by Jamie Doward:-

Parents of pupils attending a chain of academies championed by Michael Gove and founded by his former schools commissioner have been told in a letter not to talk to the media about a £2 million fraud to which it has allegedly fallen victim. The letter has angered some parents, who say rumours about the fraud have been circling for 18 months, during which time the federation failed to put them in the picture. A 55-year-old man from Lambeth has now been arrested in connection with the investigation.

The Haberdashers' Aske's Federation, which runs Hatcham College in New Cross, Knights Academy in Bromley and the Crayford Academy in Crayford, as well as a free school in Lewisham, was founded by Dr Elizabeth Sidwell, whom Gove appointed schools commissioner three years ago, a position she held until recently. Sidwell continues to be senior education adviser to the government's University Technology Colleges Trust.

The federation is one of Gove's favourite academy chains. He has frequently cited it as a blueprint for other schools and visited it to make speeches, including one at Hatcham that went viral on YouTube as bored pupils struggled to stay awake.

The alleged fraud, which comes after Haberdashers' Knights Academy was judged by Ofsted in November to have "serious weaknesses", is likely to raise questions about the freedom given to academies. Critics complain that they lack financial oversight and are not accountable.

For the whole article:-
http://www.theguardian.com/education/2014/jul/12/academy-letter-parents-2m-fraud

I have worked with many schools over the years - including , more recently, academies.

During that time I have experienced all the fashions which have been inflicted on educational establishments -  local management, Grant-Maintained, Free Schools, Community Schools and the aforementioned academy 'fad'.

 So much of it has been political bollocks - not least the constant assertions about being 'freed from local authority control'. Once local management was introduced - almost 25 years ago - any semblance of real 'control' by an authority has been non-existent, although Tories in particular have pretended simultaneously that (a) any failings were still the 'council's fault', while (b) trumpeting  any successes as being due to the removal of any malign influence from outside the school.

The real truth is , of course, that there has never been a removal of control. It was simply a question of applying control from government level ( usually in the guise of another body such as the 'Funding Agency for Schools' in the Grant - Maintained era).

Academies, however, by virtue of the laissez-faire nature of the government's approach to letting public money to be freely spent by the 'favoured', provide a golden opportunity for all manner of mis-management and fiddles under a multitude of descriptions. Where an academy chain is run by friends of the likes of Gove any wrongdoing is more than likely to be quickly and silently swept under the carpet. What more can we expect from such a monumental creep of the highest order - it would be amazing to find him doing anything remotely sensible, or which is capable of generating confidence in its propriety. He is, to some of us, a nauseating little specimen who preferably needs to be dealt with like the vermin he is.

I have to mention one declaration of interest here : the traumas that some establishments have suddenly had visited upon them have provided lucrative opportunities for anyone who has been invited to dig the unfortunates out of some of their troubles...    

Gove moving from Education to Chief Whip ?

How is that limp and ineffectual weedy nonentity going to keep the Tory Hordes in order - give them a hundred lines - or simply bore them into compliance...?

Is Michael Gove a dangerous egomaniac who is ruining UK education? Not any longer!   

Christine Blower, general secretary of the National Union of Teachers, has just released this statement:-

“Michael Gove has clearly lost the support of the profession and parents for justifiable reasons. His vision for education is simply wrong. His pursuit of the unnecessary and often unwanted free schools and academies programme, the use of unqualified teachers, the failure to address the school place crisis and endless ill-thought out reforms to examinations and the curriculum have been his hallmark in office.

“Michael Gove’s search for headlines over speaking to the profession has clearly angered teachers. We remain in dispute over the direction of government policy, which we believe is undermining the education service.

“We will be seeking a very early meeting with Nicky Morgan, the incoming education secretary, and we look forward to not only a new personality but a more conciliatory approach, one that demonstrates an improvement in policy for children, teachers and young people.”

http://teachers.org.uk/node/21940

Seems now only Tories will be on the receiving end of a Gove whipping for a bit. Let's hope he takes his policies with him.

So, Gove is now the Chief Whip.......Strange how House of Cards was on the TV at the weekend.....

Of course, there's no guarantee Nicky Morgan will be any better

At least she is current Head Girl  - as opposed to the 4th form sneak ...

                



Just imagine!  Joe 90 as Chief Whip...  what a pillock...

boatlady wrote:Of course, there's no guarantee Nicky Morgan will be any better

Nor any evidence that Ms Morgan has prior experience of Education to draw upon, apart from her own personal time at Surbiton High School (fees £5,000 a term), before going on to read law at St Hugh’s College, Oxford. All of her five ministerial colleagues at the DofE were also privately educated, by coincidence.

Well oftenwrong.
We know exactly which way the Education system is heading do we not?
One things for sure and that is there will be less monies, for the state education system.
The poorer children will as usual suffer, by becoming less well educated.

"The poorer children will as usual suffer, by becoming less well educated."

Then let them eat cake.

You do not believe that for one minute oftenwrong.

Gove doesn’t seem to be doing much better in his new job, but please spare us any toilet humour….   

Privy sealed? Michael Gove mocked for 'getting stuck in Commons toilet'

Michael Gove has been mocked by Labour for apparently getting stuck in a toilet on the first day of his new job as chief whip. The senior Tory, demoted from his role as education secretary, also got off to a bad start by losing his first government vote.

His mishap was highlighted by Angela Eagle, shadow leader of the Commons, who told MPs: "Mr Gove hasn't had the most auspicious of starts. Yesterday, he not only lost his first vote but he managed to get stuck in the toilet in the wrong lobby. We know all about the former education secretary's love of free schools. I wonder if he is keen to allow the emergence of lots of free Tory MPs who don't have to submit to his authority."

William Hague, the new leader of the Commons, said: "Knowledge of who is in the toilets in whatever lobby is a very important piece of information for any chief whip."

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/jul/17/michael-gove-stuck-toilet-commons-chief-whip

Is Common toilet humour ok Ivan?   

"Nay, nay, and thrice nay. Mock ye not the afflicted!"

Frankie Howerd

"Actually ladies and gentlemen, toilet paper had run out", it was all my notes were good for anyway.

Absolute bloody corker Phil.    

Sorry if you consider it a bum deal, but as Gove is no longer in a position to ruin UK education, would you mind awfully if I now lock this thread?  

Censorship!   

I just thought this thread was no longer applicable. Censors don't ask permission, do they?  

no Ivan lock away

Please lock without delay - not sure I can take any more Gove jokes

I know we've agreed to lock this thread, but for my 4000th post I couldn't resist sharing with you this gem from Twitter. It provides a useful summary of Gove's four corrupt and destructive years in charge of the education of our nation's children:-


https://pbs.twimg.com/media/B3e8sCeCcAAbNYM.jpg

Should anyone wish to defend nice Mr Gove, please send me a PM and I'll unlock the thread. Then I'll send for the men in white coats.  

In July this year, Cameron replaced Michael Gove as education secretary with Nicky Morgan. Gove was widely loathed and considered toxic, and Morgan was told to go and “build bridges” with the teaching profession. However, I’m highly suspicious that a non-story has been created to pretend that Morgan is different from Gove:-

Education chief fights back in battle with Michael Gove over schools

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/dec/06/nicky-morgan-battle-michael-gove-schools

It’s quite believable that the odious little worm and control freak Gove “can’t let go” of the education brief he held for four years. Nevertheless, I tend to agree with shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt when he says of Morgan: “On every one of Gove’s damaging reforms, she has continued to push his divisive and damaging agenda. She is continuity Gove. No change on substance. More unqualified teachers in the classroom. A teacher recruitment crisis. And an expansion of the damaging free schools programme.”

I’m surprised at ‘The Guardian’ for making a meal out of this in a style that is more typical of ‘The Daily Mail’. The only people named in the article are Gove, Morgan and Hunt. The dubious evidence for this story comes from “a senior Tory”, “Morgan’s friends”, “senior government sources”, “a close ally of Morgan”, “a friend of Gove” and “some on the right of the Tory Party”. It’s best to treat anonymous sources with a great deal of caution.

Not only more unqualified teachers Ivan, but less teachers altogether
full-stop.

Well Tristam is probably reading the script written for her by gove due to her lack of experience anyway OW.