11th April 2013 9:00
By Blue Tutors
The NUT have passed a vote of no confidence on Michael Gove, the Education Secretary. At their annual conference in Liverpool there were chants of “Gove must go”, and the NUT spokesperson, Christine Blower, said that Gove must face his ‘poll tax moment’. This follows the ATL teachers’ union passing a similar vote only a week before.
At the NUT conference, Nick O’Brien, from Norwich, told the attendees "It is Mr Gove and his government who have broken the hearts and futures of our brilliant young people by fixing exam results, scrapping the education maintenance allowance and being part of a vicious government whose policies have caused mass young unemployment. How dare he. Gove must go." Oliver Fayers, who suggested the motion in the first place said “How long do parents and children have to tolerate their education system being run this badly?”
A spokesperson for the department of education stated that we need an education system which allows us to compete with the best in the world, and highlighted the changes that have been made: reduced bureaucracy, more autonomy within schools and ensuring good teachers are better recognised with increased pay. The challenge from the government is to ask why the NUT aren’t supporting reforms which they see as extremely positive, which is what it’s assumed teachers should do.