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Education secretary Michael Gove targets schools that have fallen below the government’s minimum standard The 200 weakest primary schools in England will be placed under new management by the beginning of the next school year, the education secretary Michael Gove will say on Thursday. It is the most direct interference in primary schools by a government that has, so far, been mainly focused on intervention on secondary schools. Gove will announce the weakest 200 primary schools will become academies in 2012. He is to target those schools that have, for five years, fallen below the government’s “minimum floor standard” (less than 60% of the children reaching a basic level in English and Maths at 11, and where children make below-average progress between seven and 11). Local authorities with particularly large numbers of struggling primaries will be identified for urgent collaboration with the Department for Education to tackle a further 500 primaries. On the basis of 2010 results, there are about 1,400 primary schools below the primary minimum floor standard. Of those, about 500 have been below the floor for two or three of the last four years. A further 200 have been below standard for the last five years and 120 of those have been below the floor for more than a decade. Gove will initially target the 200. Citing the shift of political and economic power to Asia, Gove will tell his audience in Birmingham: “We have just suffered the worst financial crisis since 1929. Our economy is weighed down by a huge debt burden. Europe has major problems with debt and the euro. “Meanwhile there is a rapid and historic shift of political and economic power to Asia and a series of scientific and technological changes that are transforming our culture, economy and global politics. If we do not have a school system adapting to and preparing for these challenges, then we will face even worse crises in the years ahead.” Justifying his intervention, Gove will state “there is only so much you can do between 11 and 16,” arguing that the fate of a pupil may well be settled by the time they reach secondary school. Education policy Schools Primary schools Michael Gove Patrick Wintour guardian.co.uk