Pupils should be taught skills needed to help Britain compete internationally

But there is a paradox in play here. On the one hand, the rhetoric is about trusting the frontline professionals to get on with the job without the interference of bureaucrats; on the other, they are being told — in ever-increasing detail — the body of knowledge they have to impart. It is ironic that academies and free schools do not have to follow Gove's diktats on the curriculum.

But I have been reflecting less on who decides the curriculum than how it should be decided.

The Secretary of State is an English graduate and a professional writer. It is probable that a diet of Byron, Keats, Austen and Dryden et al met his educational needs. But it is difficult to see how there could be time in the school curriculum for detailed study of any more than a few books. And while I have every respect for teachers of English, I fear that engaging many young people with the oeuvre described would be beyond even them. And, to take another example, it is difficult to see how time can be found for covering "our island story" in any depth — that is why, of course, just a few topics have been selected for the national curriculum. Of course, I applaud Gove's emphasis on basic skills of grammar and spelling but I would be much more impressed had he pronounced on some of the key knowledge that this country will need to compete internationally.

Every year, India produces 150,000 engineering graduates and China produces 300,000 graduates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. These areas add real value to the economy. So how about an announcement about Newton's Laws of Motion, and the Laws of Thermodynamics?

John Freeman is a former director of children's services and now a freelance consultant.