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Press Release

Voice comments on Michael Gove's Conservative Pary Conference speech

4 October 2011

Commenting on the speech by Education Secretary Michael Gove to the Conservative Party Conference today (4 October 2011) Philip Parkin, General Secretary of Voice: the union for education professionals, said:

Philip Parkin said: "Mr Gove's speech was a triumph of vague style and sweeping generalisations with little substance.

"We welcome his commitment to raising the profile and status of vocational education but a small number of technical schools will only be available for a relatively small number of students.

"We welcome his commitment to the job, but he will either have to be in office for a very long time – subject to Cabinet reshuffles and the dangers of the political minefield – to level out the inequalities he promises, many of which are the result of wider social problems outside his control and that of schools. Will every state school have the resources and the tutorial-size classes of the most expensive private schools at their disposal? Somehow, I doubt it.

"Many of the ideas put forward in media briefings ahead of the speech, such as language teaching in primary schools, weren't there."



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Voice: the union for education professionals

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