Education bill 'is an audacious and unprecedented power grab'

February 08 2011

Michael Gove's education bill has been described as "an audacious and unprecedented power grab" by shadow education secretary Andy Burnham.

Writing for the Guardian, he said that under the bill, families will lose the right to challenge school decisions about exclusions and will be unable to make complaints locally.

"Parents of children with disabilities and special needs already face a battle to get a good education. This bill stacks the odds against them even further. Poor behaviour can arise from failure to identify or support a child's special needs, and yet, in future, any exclusions that may result will be much harder to challenge," Mr Burnham commented.

He argued that the new English baccalaureate qualification takes choice away from pupils and narrows the curriculum.

Introducing the baccalaureate retrospectively may also lead to schools having their reputations damaged.

The English baccalaureate is awarded to GCSE students gaining A* to C grades in English, maths, science, a humanities subject and a foreign language.

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