The government has set out its 10-year children's plan, pledging to make Britain the "best place in the world to grow up".

Delivering a Commons statement on Tuesday, schools secretary Ed Balls said there had been improvements but that further reforms were needed to create a "world class" education system.

The plan focused on the two key transitional periods for children, from pre-school to primary school and from primary to secondary education.

Balls told MPs that the government "must do more to prevent children falling behind or failing to fulfil their potential".

He set out plans for £1bn of investment over the next three years, with £200m for early years education.

Investment

The minister said there would be at least two graduates teaching in nurseries in the most disadvantaged areas, adding that 20,000 two-year-olds would also be entitled to free nursery places.

The blueprint included £80m for special educational needs and £66m to support young people at risk of getting into crime.

There will be £44m to ensure that all teachers are able to study to masters level, and Balls said that ministers would be consulting on the "rare cases" where teachers need to be removed from schools. 

And Balls announced £160m of funding to 2010 for new facilities, including adventure playgrounds in disadvantaged areas.

Announcing plans to "accelerate the improvements", Balls said there would be a "root-and-branch review" of the primary school curriculum to focus on teaching English, maths and foreign languages.

He also said that if trials were successful, the government would implement "stage not age testing nationally, which would be the biggest reform to the national curriculum assessment since its creation".

Under the plan, every pupil will have a personal tutor, monitoring their performance and keeping in touch with parents.

Balls said that "supporting parents is essential to this children's plan", adding that every school would have a "parents council".

Mission

As well as aiming to "tackle all barriers to learning", the plan also includes measures to make all schools zero-carbon by 2016.

It will see schools, children's services, the voluntary sector and government "all playing their part and meeting their responsibilities", Balls said.

He added: "With the billion pounds over the next three years that we are allocating today to meet our children's plans commitments, we can unlock the talents promote health and happiness of all children and not just some.

"We can back parents as they meet their responsibilities to bring up their children, and we can intervene early so that no child or young person is left to fall behind.

"We will make our country the best place in the world for children to grow up. that is the mission of this government and this children's plan."

'Falling behind'

On Monday, Balls announced a wide-ranging review of primary education, including the phasing out of national Sats tests for 11-year-olds and more emphasis on modern languages.

And shadow children's secretary Michael Gove pointed to audits showing that children were behind in reading, maths and science.

"The government has responded by trying to change the tests to cover up their failure and expand political interference without giving parents or teachers the crucial powers they need," he argued.

"This is wrong. Instead, we must learn from other countries with higher standards. Politicians should be doing less but doing better."

The Liberal Democrats said the plan was a "wasted opportunity".

"Britain faces a massive challenge in addressing the severe problems of child poverty, educational underachievement and child welfare," said children's spokesman David Laws.

"But Ed Balls' 10-year plan doesn't come anywhere near delivering on the scale of challenge we face.
 
"This is a mouse of a plan, for a mountain of a problem. It is nothing more than a hotchpotch of reviews, recycled policies and gimmicks - with the unifying theme of a belief in top-down big government solutions."