Ed Balls on changing the teaching profession

Schools Secretary Ed Balls has been accused of having "nothing original to offer" as he unveiled his education White Paper. Tory spokesman Michael Gove said Mr Balls was offering "old material" and told MPs introducing legal obligations on schools to drive up standards was evidence that Labour had failed to do so in the last 12 years. Responding after Mr Balls had set out a series of measures to meet the "economic" and "moral" imperatives to deliver high quality education, Mr Gove said: "This is high summer - the season when the BBC screens are filled with repeats. "They have nothing original to offer, so they serve up old material which flopped on first appearance simply to fill the airwaves. "As it is with the BBC, so it is with this Secretary of State. No wonder this document is printed on recycled paper." Mr Gove said promises of personal tuition outlined by Mr Balls had previously been announced by Prime Minister Gordon Brown in June 2007. And he told the Schools Secretary: "I know you relish your role as this Government's attack puppy and your special vocation as the Prime Minister's mini-me. "But when will you realise that simply repeating the same old nonsense over and over again ad nauseam hasn't exactly helped the Prime Minister to new heights of popularity and it won't help you." Mr Balls had said that teachers will in future need a "licence to teach" which would be regularly reviewed. He also said that new School Report Cards would include a single overall "grade" for each establishment. Mr Balls also announced that two new academies in Halton, Redcar and Cleveland had been given the go-ahead.

» More on this story... «

ITN | June 30, 2009

Tags:. .grade. .academies. .cleveland. .overall. .gove