Shephard 'blitz' on basics

JUDITH JUDD

A blitz on the basics, through 20 new literacy and numeracy centres, will ensure that children work rather than play when they start school, Gillian Shephard said yesterday.

The Secretary of State for Education told the North of England education conference in Gateshead that the centres, costing pounds 25m over five years,aimed to outlaw "trendy" teaching and promote more effective methods. "An over-emphasis on unsupervised discovery methods have held children back in some schools for too long," she said.

Bad schools and teachers will be referred to the centres by local authorities or inspectors. Full-time consultants will help them set targets of achievement and plan staff training. A national centre will co-ordinate the work and train project staff.

In her speech to the conference, Mrs Shephard said: "Good teachers spend all their time teaching, not waiting for pupils to learn. This project will make a real difference where it matters. By the end of the project, centres could have worked with 2,000 primary schools."

David Blunkett, Labour's education spokesman, said: "Last year, the Government axed its support for the pounds 14m-a-year reading recovery programme which had proved highly successful in tackling weaknesses in literacy. While the pounds 5m-a-year programme is welcome, it merely restores a third of what was axed."

David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said the initiative was "a drop in the ocean". There should be a substantial increase in resources so that all primary schools could benefit, he argued.

Diana Wright, chairman of the National Confederation of Parent Teacher Associations said: "Children only get one chance. Why should not that chance be available for all?"