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Speaking to the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust in London, the PM announced a series of reforms aimed at providing all people with the opportunity to progress. Measures include: an expansion of nursery places to two-year-olds in disadvantaged areas; new Children's Centres with free childcare for low income families; new £200 child Development Grants; and the Teach First programme that aims to attract the best graduates into teaching. These steps were in addition to action already taken such as the growth of one to one tuition and personalised learning; the National Challenge to improve low-attaining schools; and an expansion of apprenticeships and new grants for universities, he said. The PM said: "Our ambition: that for every child we can say that their destiny is not written for them, but written by them. To create a Britain where what counts is not where you come from but what you aspire to become - not who you know but what you know. A Britain where everyone, no matter what their background, should be able to rise as far as their talents can take them; where everyone can make the most of their potential." Mr Brown added that there were still "serious inequalities" to be addressed, particularly on the impact of the environment into which children are born on factors such as academic achievement and life expectancy. The increasing globalisation of the economy will present opportunities for all people in Britain that must be siezed, he said. He said: "Together we can create a Britain where instead of talent wasted, effort unrewarded, enterprise stifled and potential unfulfilled, we see effort praised, ambition fulfilled, potential realised. A new era of prosperity for Britain - shared by us all and inherited by all our children." Crown copyright http://www.pm.gov.uk/ http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page15835.asp |
