Responding to Ed Balls’ comments on promoting literacy, Shadow Children’s Secretary Michael Gove said:"

"There is a serious crisis in British schools. The gap between school standards for rich families and for the rest is getting wider. British children are falling behind other countries. "

"About half the children leaving primary school at 11 can’t do basic reading, writing, and maths, and one in five school-leavers still can’t do basic reading, writing, and maths. The Government is responsible for the failure of so many schools to teach children to read properly."