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| Michael Gove, Education Secretary |
The education secretary, Michael Gove, has urged politicians to stop "lying to children" about their life chances and allowing inflated exam grades that he compared to Soviet tractor production propaganda.
"For years, ministers in previous governments looked at the way more and more people were getting GCSEs and they congratulated themselves, like Soviet economics ministers on the growth in statistics," Gove a US summit on education reform on Thursday night.
Slipping into a mock Russian accent and syntax, Gove said: "Look in Russia, thousands more get GCSEs. Surely now we are education powerhouse?"
Instead, he told the audience in Boston, "the truth is that we were lying to children" by telling them they would be able to go to university or find skilled work.
"Employers said: 'You have a piece of paper that says it, you're qualified in English and mathematics. But you can't write a business letter, you can't do basic arithmetic required to work in this store or on this shop floor.' » | Richard Adams, education editor, in Boston | Friday, October 18, 2013
