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By Gove, I think he’s got it!

Michael Gove is certainly not my favourite Secretary of State, but today he excelled himself. He’s issued local authorities with new guidelines that warn that race should not delay placing a child with a suitable family of a different ethnicity.

The new guidance will state that as long as prospective adopters show that they are able to care for the child then race should not be a factor. Hurray! Hurray! Hurray! This guidance is long overdue. There have been literally thousands of children who have been denied the chance of adoption because they are not from the same ethnic background as the prospective parents.

Michael Gove was adopted and I’m sure he is anxious to see that more children get opportunity of being brought up in a caring, loving home, as he was.

However, he needs to do more. Adoption is still a long, drawn out process. This needs to change. It is absolutely vital that adoption takes place as early as possible in a child’s life and that the system delivers this. The later children are put up for adoption the less likely they are to find parents who will adopt them. All too soon children in care become institutionalised and develop behavioural problems because they don’t get the care and nurture they need. 25% of adoptions fail primarily because the adoption takes place too late on in the child’s life.

There appears to be far too little transparency about how the local authority adoption agencies operate, and how efficient they are.  Apparently they are judged on how adoption cases proceed after a child has been placed, not on how many children they fail to place. This needs to be rectified promptly. There are also far too many rumours of ridiculous bureaucracy and ‘politically correct attitudes’ to be ignored.

The fact remains that there are 80,000 children in care in the UK. The number of children who are adopted each year is approximately 3,750. This is a derisory figure. There must be a concerted effort to increase the number of children who are adopted each year and reduce the number of children in care. 25% of our current prison population have been in care. 30% of children in custody are in care. This says it all doesn’t it? If we are ever going to do something about our unequal society, this is a very good place to start.

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February 22, 2011 by Leave a Comment

Not Another Gove Tuesday Michael?

Oh Michael, Michael, Michael! For heaven’s sake, what have you done now? You’re going to slash £162 million sports funding from schools. Oh, I see. Have you thought this one through? Remember what happened last time you opened your trap before putting your brain in gear! Are we going to see you at the despatch box on Tuesday confessing your sins – again?

Michael Gove is meant to be a very clever chap, but is he stupid? I think he may have to convince us. In all his wisdom [sic], he has decided that £162 million is too much to pay for supporting sport in our schools. A stroke of genius just before the 2012 Olympics, when we’re trying to encourage children to get involved in sport, but also a mind-numbingly idiotic decision because of the effect it will have on children’s health. There is already a huge problem with childhood obesity. This decision is unhelpful, and will prove to be a very costly one too.

Sports funding has rekindled children’s enthusiasm for sport and competition. There are now 450 sports partnerships that run schools’ sports in local communities. The money goes towards training staff and organising sports events. It has been a hugely successful enterprise. Don’t forget that a dozen years ago the Major government was selling off school sports fields to property developers. A huge amount has been achieved since then.

Sport, exercise and competition are so important for our children. It is starting to thrive in our schools. It must be allowed to continue to do so. Michael Gove should think again.

Let’s hope for a penitent Gove at the despatch box on Tuesday. This is a crass decision and needs to be reversed as quickly as possible.

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November 21, 2010 by Leave a Comment

By Gove No Education Cuts!

What’s this I hear? Wee Willie Gove has been brown nosing the headmaster again? There are leaks a plenty that education has been let off the hook and will escape any swingeing cuts on Wednesday. If that’s the case then it obviously pays to be the headmasters favourite.

Our esteemed Education Secretary, having experienced the wrath of the pedagogues following his Gove Tuesday gaffes, has obviously been pulling out all the stops to prevent his balls being put in the vice again – and succeeded (apparently).

If we now have an Education Secretary who can create miracles, I wonder if he could wave some of his magic over the 1998 Education Act?

 He may not have noticed yet, but the education we dish out to our children is a disgrace. It is a production line designed to churn out pupils who are economically useful rather than nurturing and developing their individual talents. It practices an intellectual apartheid by separating what it deems to be smart people from non smart people and by so doing swills the talent of our nation down the plughole.

Is Gove up to the task? Has he the imagination for fundamental reform? He certainly didn’t start life with a silver spoon in his mouth, but he may already have paid his dues to the Tory broederbond, it may be too late. Let’s hope not.

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October 18, 2010 by Leave a Comment