Prisoners of Ignorance
I haven't caught much of the Tory part conference in Manchester this week - but I managed to hear part of the speech delivered yesterday by the Education Secretary - Michael Gove.
And do you know what struck me - most of what he said could also have been said by an Education Secretary in Tony Blair's government - or Gordon Brown's government .
Or even Ed Miliband's government - if Ed ever gets the chance to lead one.
Two things stood out for me in Michael Gove's conference address.
First, he described many young men in the UK - as being in a prison house of ignorance - which I thought was a splendid, evocative phrase - and accurate into the bargain.
Michael Gove claimed that 60% of 14 year-olds entitled to free school meals can't read or write properly - a figure which presumably applies to England and Wales - though I can't imagine Scotland being much different.
Now it stands to reason that if young people can't read or write properly by the time they reach 14 - they couldn't read or write properly when they left primary school.
Secondly, Michael Gove went on to highlight what he called an 'iron link' - between illiteracy, crime and the likelihood of a lifestyle of repeat offending - once young people enter the criminal justice system.
All the evidence suggests that prison becomes a revolving door for many people - set on a lifetime of crime from a relatively young age - from which they never recover.
But this is not a new phenomenon - the same pattern has been evident for years and years - all the way through the last Labour government which was in power for thirteen uninterrupted years.
So why do our politicians - when they agree on the nature and scale of the problem - find it so difficult to develop public policies which can turn things around - and begin to head in the right direction?
An obvious reason is that they are all so tribal - one lot will argue that 'black' is really 'white' while in opposition - but the complete opposite when they get into government.
Now Michael Gove went out of his way to say that most young people do very well in school - that illiteracy and chronic under-achieving is a big problem - but one that affects a small number of young people - and their families.
All of which is true - but it is also true to say that this is not rocket science - and that it is a stain on UK politics and politicians - that it is still so widespread today.
Maybe more attention should be focused on the parents of such children - and not just the schools.
Maybe the children need 'rescuing' from their parents - as much as they need inspiration from good schools and teachers.
Whatever they need - the politicians have been talking and arguing about the problem for far too long - it's time they started to change things on the ground.
And do you know what struck me - most of what he said could also have been said by an Education Secretary in Tony Blair's government - or Gordon Brown's government .
Or even Ed Miliband's government - if Ed ever gets the chance to lead one.
Two things stood out for me in Michael Gove's conference address.
First, he described many young men in the UK - as being in a prison house of ignorance - which I thought was a splendid, evocative phrase - and accurate into the bargain.
Michael Gove claimed that 60% of 14 year-olds entitled to free school meals can't read or write properly - a figure which presumably applies to England and Wales - though I can't imagine Scotland being much different.
Now it stands to reason that if young people can't read or write properly by the time they reach 14 - they couldn't read or write properly when they left primary school.
Secondly, Michael Gove went on to highlight what he called an 'iron link' - between illiteracy, crime and the likelihood of a lifestyle of repeat offending - once young people enter the criminal justice system.
All the evidence suggests that prison becomes a revolving door for many people - set on a lifetime of crime from a relatively young age - from which they never recover.
But this is not a new phenomenon - the same pattern has been evident for years and years - all the way through the last Labour government which was in power for thirteen uninterrupted years.
So why do our politicians - when they agree on the nature and scale of the problem - find it so difficult to develop public policies which can turn things around - and begin to head in the right direction?
An obvious reason is that they are all so tribal - one lot will argue that 'black' is really 'white' while in opposition - but the complete opposite when they get into government.
Now Michael Gove went out of his way to say that most young people do very well in school - that illiteracy and chronic under-achieving is a big problem - but one that affects a small number of young people - and their families.
All of which is true - but it is also true to say that this is not rocket science - and that it is a stain on UK politics and politicians - that it is still so widespread today.
Maybe more attention should be focused on the parents of such children - and not just the schools.
Maybe the children need 'rescuing' from their parents - as much as they need inspiration from good schools and teachers.
Whatever they need - the politicians have been talking and arguing about the problem for far too long - it's time they started to change things on the ground.
