The NUT's Christine Blower comments on the Queen's Speech

Commenting on today’s Queen’s Speech, setting out the programme of Government legislation, Christine Blower, General Secretary of the National Union of Teachers, the largest teachers’ union, said:

"The Government proposals on reforms to the National Curriculum, examinations and the deregulation of teachers’ pay are ill thought out and plain wrong. They will certainly not ensure a world class education system. 

"Michael Gove now needs to stop and reflect on its plans for curriculum and examination reform. Many teachers are genuinely in despair about the curriculum proposals as they feel they are either age inappropriate or just plain dull. Many others outside of the classroom, including the business sector, have also expressed concerns with Michael Gove’s plans.

"Similarly, the Education Secretary’s haphazard examination reform has been the target of much criticism. The lack of recognition of vocational subjects is just one example of how little Michael Gove understands the career paths and life chances that are open to pupils through vocational subjects.

"Plans to deregulate teachers’ pay will create unnecessary work for individual schools and head teachers. This is a chaotic approach to teachers’ pay.  It will be an inefficient bureaucratic mess and will lead to unfairness, divisiveness and arbitrary decisions.

"The pace of change to children’s education and teachers’ pay and conditions, on the basis of no informed evidence or advice is quite simply unacceptable. The NUT is determined to act with others to expose the need for changes to the curriculum and for a fair, coherent national pay policy.

"Michael Gove does not have the monopoly of wisdom on either the curriculum or teachers’ pay. He must listen to the profession”.

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