Carol Vorderman, the Tories’ maths guru, obtained a third class degree. This trivial fact, revealed by a delighted Daily Mail, was an unintended outcome of their proposals that graduates should have an “at least 2:2” degree before proceeding to teacher training – which most already do. It’s just one of a series of clueless pronouncements from the Tories’ education spokesman Michael Gove.

• Extra Saturday morning school is his latest idea, and it’s typically off the mark – we all favour more resources for those in need but forcing youngsters to go to school on Saturday morning would stigmatise them and do more harm than good.

• “Troops to teachers” is another Gove wheeze which has been good for headlines but again, it’s based on sloppy thinking. Yes, ex-service people, like many other professionals, sometimes retrain to become great teachers. But the implication that schools generally need military-style discipline is ludicrous and patronises our young people.

• The Tories talk about “giving power back to the head teacher”, meaning that they’ll abolish independent discipline appeals. But it’s unusual that head teachers’ exclusion decisions are reversed by appeals, and if such hearings were to be abolished then some parents would resort to the courts, causing far more work for heads and additional costs for the taxpayer.

• So called “free schools” are Gove’s signature policy. Based on a model already used in Sweden, parents will have the right to open a school and have the state finance it. Under current legislation parents can already get funding for schools but you have to demonstrate a need for places. Under the Tories’ proposals, there will be no such restriction, and astonishingly, they’ve given no indication how they would pay for the oversupply of places which is bound to occur. And research has shown that average standards have gone down in Sweden since these schools have been introduced.

By contrast, much of Labour’s investment in education has come to fruition in the last couple of years. The National Challenge has turned out to be the most successful school improvement scheme ever. Teaching assistants have made a huge improvement to teaching and learning, especially for difficult classes. Some youngsters now get individual tuition, effectively injecting Eton or Winchester levels of investment into maintained schools. And most importantly, more graduates are now realising that teaching is a satisfying and reasonably well-paid career; this term we’re seeing applications from some excellent newly qualified teachers, even in previously scarce subjects like maths and science.

And yet I’m not sure that Labour is winning the battle of ideas. Gove has had a “good war” so far; by issuing a torrent of announcements he’s achieved plenty of headlines. Although there have been some embarrassments, like Vorderman, the stories have had more impact than the rebuttals.

In my opinion, schools don’t need yet another round of structural changes and if they’re allowed to consolidate, standards will continue to rise. But “more of the same” is hardly an attractive political message. We must continue to warn parents of the chaos that the Tories’ policies would bring, but we should also spell out our positive vision for the future. For example, an evolving “Building Schools for the Future” project in my area will transform the education of less-privileged young people; as well as aiming for a top class academic experience we’re planning the very best facilities for sport, music, drama and art. The Tories under their “free schools” proposals suggest – quite literally – shoving youngsters into rented office blocks for a cheap and cheerful education. Labour stands for excellence for all our children – that should be our message for the election.

Photo: Paul Clarke 2010