Education secretary, who says governors should be recruited for their expertise, wants ‘businesslike approach’ to academisation

Being a parent is not a sufficient qualification to be a school governor, the education secretary has suggested, as she said she wants families and councils to take a businesslike approach to her plans to convert all of England’s schools into academies.

In an interview with the Guardian, Nicky Morgan said she expected that the public were unlikely to have strong feelings about changes to school governance, including plans to scrap the right of parents to have representatives on schools’ boards of governors.

“We’re not saying that there shouldn’t be parent governors. What we’re saying is that trusts can choose to have, if they want, a slot reserved for parent governors, but also to recruit people on the basis of the expertise they will bring. Many parents will have that expertise, and they are recruited on the basis of their skills as much as they are for being a parent,” Morgan said.

As part of Morgan’s plans, outlined in an education white paper last week, about 16,000 schools in England will also be transferred from local authority control into independent trusts as academies by 2022. The role of council local education authorities will end.

Jeremy Corbyn, addressing the annual conference of the National Union of Teachers on Friday, said that Morgan’s proposals amounted to trying to “shut parents out of a say in how their children’s schools are run”.

The Labour leader said: “George Osborne used the budget to announce the forced academisation of all schools. This is an ideological attack on teachers and on local and parental accountability – an attack which was nowhere in their manifesto at the last general election.



“The Tories want to shut parents out of a say in how their children’s schools are run. I want schools accountable to their parents and their communities – not to those pushing to be first in line for the asset stripping of our education system.”

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Corbyn called Morgan’s proposals ‘an ideological attack’. Photograph: Leon Neal/AFP/Getty Images

Members of Morgan’s party are also unhappy, with Conservative councillors in her constituency in Leicestershire and others in David Cameron’s constituency in Oxfordshire voicing concern. They have argued that Morgan’s reforms delete decades of effort in improving schools.



However, Morgan said councils’ new role will be “championing the rights of parents”. She added: “It doesn’t really matter which political party or council they are from. What we want to get to is a consistent system of delivering school improvement, and to change the relationship of local authorities with their schools.

“Look, it is a change but it is one that is very much needed. We have got schools that can absolutely stand on their own two feet, and I think that’s what we should be doing as Conservatives. It’s the ultimate devolution to people who know best how to run our schools.”

Morgan’s comments came as she was preparing to address the annual conference of the NASUWT teaching union, becoming the first Conservative education secretary to do so since 1997. A week ago Morgan’s appearance would not have been too controversial but after the publication of the white paper – which also promises to drastically shake up teacher training – her speech will be closely scrutinised.

The minister said councils will retain a residual role in ensuring there are enough school places to meet demand under the Conservative proposals, and she suggested councils will have to adopt a similar business-friendly approach to attracting schools as they do towards creating jobs. “At the end of the day local authorities are responsible for economic growth in their area. They don’t buy and sell businesses, they don’t build businesses, what they do is work to attract businesses their area, through a combination of things,” she said.



“That’s exactly what local authorities, in terms of their role with both existing academies and bringing in new school providers, will be doing.”

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Morgan argued that the moves to end councils’ direct involvement in schools did not create a democratic deficit, because many parents did not rate education as a political priority when voting. “I’ve never yet been on a doorstep where education has come up as an issue,” Morgan said.

“I’ve met teachers who have wanted to talk about things but I’ve never met somebody, a parent, who has said: I’m not voting for your party in a local election because of the state of our schools. If people think that local elections are won or lost on local education matters, that isn’t happening.”

The minister said that parents expected the government to provide places in good schools for their children, and had little interest in the precise details of school governance.

“Speaking as a parent, I don’t think parents think all the time about structures. I know from conversations I’ve had with other mums, I’ll ask: ‘Is your child’s school an academy or a local authority school?’ – and they’ll look at me blankly. But if I say, what do you think of the teaching or what do you think of the head, they’ll have lots and lots to say,” Morgan said.

Morgan also said she was confident that the Department for Education would be able to oversee the expected flood of new academy trusts created by mass conversion to academy status, with forecasts of more than 1,000 such trusts needed to absorb the 16,000 schools still maintained by local authorities.



At the NUT annual conference delegates were considering whether to debate strike action over what one of its leaders described as the biggest changes to education in England since the 19th century. The union voted to debate an emergency motion including a call for a one-day strikes on the white paper changes before the end of the school year this summer.

Facebook Twitter Pinterest Jeremy Corbyn poses for pictures with teachers following his speech at the NUT conference in Brighton. Photograph: Gareth Fuller/PA

Morgan tried to offer a more emollient message for teachers. She said she wanted to reduce the workload that the teaching unions say is becoming intolerable and driving staff from the profession. Last year the DfE, at Morgan’s behest, conducted an open consultation among teachers on workload, attracting 44,000 responses. “I created a bit of a workload challenge for my own department,” she said.



Out of that a series of reports were commissioned, with Morgan about to unveil some of the findings. They contain “some serious asks” of government and headteachers, such as steering school leaders away from onerous marking policies adopted in the belief that Ofsted inspectors require them.

Among the difficult issues still on Morgan’s plate are teacher recruitment and retention and the appointment of a new Ofsted chief inspector.

Sir Michael Wilshaw, the outgoing chief inspector, has become a prominent figure with his stern criticisms of school performance since he took office in 2012. In doing so he clashed with policymakers, including Morgan’s predecessor Michael Gove.

Morgan was quick to praise Wilshaw for his passion and track record. Asked if she wanted a similarly forthright replacement, she said: “I want someone who will be able to report without fear or favour. But I think that they do need to recognise the achievements in the system.”

“In [Ofsted’s] annual report eight out of 10 schools are rated as good or outstanding, and sometimes amidst all the hubbub that good stuff gets lost.”

To aid recruitment Morgan also said she wants teachers to project a more positive image, and plans to tell the NASUWT: “The teaching unions have a choice – spend the next four years doing battle with us and doing down the profession they represent in the process, or stepping up, seizing the opportunities and promise offered by the white paper and helping us to shape the future of the education system.”



She said was shocked by the union’s figures on the abuse teachers receive over social media, from both pupils and parents, and wants to explore what can be done to help protect teachers online.