Parents against 'wild and wacky' education theories, says Michael Gove

Parents do not want "wild and wacky" education theories, but school uniforms and strict discipline for their children, Education Secretary Michael Gove said today.

And he said there should be a recognition that working-class parents were just as ambitious for their youngsters as middle- class families.

Mr Gove told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme: "The scandal - and it is no less than a scandal - of unequal opportunity in this country has to be addressed head-on."

He went on: "What we do need to have is a recognition that working-class parents are every bit as ambitious as middle-class parents."

Mr Gove said uniforms and discipline were what parents wanted, "not some of the wild and wacky theorems that have distracted some of our schools from delivering on the basics over the last 20 years".

He was speaking ahead of a BBC2 documentary highlighting the social divide in education, which is being broadcast tonight.