to think if Gove thinks it's good to change people at the top occasionally, the same should probably apply to Education secretaries?

[HollyMiamiFLA]

If that's what he thinks.

A change at the top is always good. Brings in fresh ideas.

[corlan]

I thought the same when I heard him say that - What an absolute load of old bollocks!

[Feenie]

Particularly when their party weren't really voted in in the first place. Has pretty much ended up as a dictatorship.

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

Yanbu - Have already Tweeted to the same effect.

Muppet.

[LoveSewingBee]

I definitely think that it is time for Gove to be refreshed, eg somebody fresh to take over from him.

[MrsTerryPratchett]

I like the idea of his being 'refreshed'. It sounds like Cosa Nostra talk...

[rabbitlady]

please.

[Inglori0us]

The guy is an incompetent idiot. I look forward to the day he fucks off.
And Hunt. And Cameron. And Gideon.

[HanSolo]

Um... you do know that Gove is aiming for PM, don't you? He probably did mean to include himself (and Cameron) in his sweeping statement!

[RemusLupinsBiggestGroupie]

The idea of Gove as PM is the stuff of deepest, darkest nightmares. He makes the insanity of Boris look positively left-wing.

[Kayakinggirl86]

As much as the man annoys me, right now I think he should stay.... Only cause I am not writing any more new schemes of work!!

[HanSolo]

Remus, I think he's just biding his time until after 2015. Labour haven't a hope of getting elected next year, and once Cameron 'wins' again, Gove will stage a leadership contest.

[lookdeepintotheparka]

Can't believe the man in still in that job to be honest.

I'm by the number of teachers I know that are thinking of leaving because of him. He will go down in history as the most unpopular Education Secretary of all time surely?

[AuntieStella]

Do you want, therefore, all ministerial appointments to be changed every three years?

Or are you asking for OFSTED heads to stick around for longer (say 5 years to match Parliamentary term)? Or are there differences in the nature of the roles which mean there is no reason to link how long they are offered for?


As it was Gove who appointed Morgan, it probably wouldn't make much difference to him if she stayed beyond her initially agreed 3 year tenure.

BTW, just wondering - this is an example of a Tory in a coalition appointing a known Labour supporter. Are there any examples of Laour appointing Tories to roles like this?

[JennyCalendar]

I wish that education was not swayed by the whims of party politics. It goes the same way:

• New party "Education is shit. Let's do what we can to make the next results look dreadful" Cue raising of grade boundaries, changing of GCSE course halfway through, measuring school by EBACC results even though it wasnt it didn't exist when students made their options choices 2/3 years earlier etc.
  
• "Look how bad this year's results are. This is the fault of the previous government" Resistance to new policies is lowered and sweeping changes, with very little education research or consultation, are brought in. SoW are rewritten yet again to include the latest buzzwords.
  
• As teachers get to grips with the new requirements, results get better.
  
• Political party takes all the credit.
  

Then a new party comes into power.

Rinse and repeat.

I feel sorry for the exam students during the first two years following a change in government. They're the ones who always get shafted.

[hackmum]

Jenny, I once went to an education seminar where someone suggested that education policy be delegated away from government to a group of educational experts who would make decisions based on evidence about what works. That would stop all these 180 degree turns on education by successive governments.

Interesting idea, I thought, though it will never happen...

[HollyMiamiFLA]

"Evidence that works"

You mean instead of just implementing a policy, actually test it, compare it and see if it's effective.

That sounds radical
Evidence based policy.

[rollonthesummer]

The man is dangerous! I cannot bear to be a teacher anymore-between him, Ofsted and Ofsted changes, the paperwork, performNde related pay (bottom set maths anyone?), incompetent managers and marking in bloody pink-I've had it.

[WindyMillerCandlewickGreen]

He appointed her for a 3 year term, it's 3 years later, her contract is over and he's now going to appoint someone else.

Why the fuss?

[ConferencePear]

Windy, how usual is it to say that someone has been doing the job superbly well and then give it to someone else ?

[BustedRussian]

Gove's actions remind me of Francis Underwood in House of Cards. Utterly ruthless. And yes he wants PM.

[offblackeggshell]

Perhaps he was gently introducing us to the possibility that he feels he has been in the job too long. We can always hope.

[StrictLiability]

I allways assume Gove is still in the cabinit because of blackmail. No reasonable person would give him a job.

[MrsMook]

Gove, making the policy-less party that put us in a mess seem remarkably attractivo?e... I wonder how many vores he will ccost the Conservives if he's not refreshed before the hext election.