Hey teacher don't leave those kids alone - The Sun

MICHAEL Gove yesterday told teachers to have no fear of using physical force to restrain unruly pupils as he launched a blitz on classroom chaos.

The Education Secretary said it was time to show disruptive kids "who's boss" because "the rules of the game have changed".

It came as the Government unveiled plans to encourage soldiers to take up teaching to improve kids' discipline.

Under plans to bolster staff and undermine school yobs who hide behind human rights rules, teachers will no longer have to record each time they restrain a violent pupil.

Mr Gove said: "The last thing teachers need is another piece of regulation inhibiting their judgment." He spoke of a "step-by-step" move of the "ratchet" back in teachers' favour, adding: "We need to ensure we send a single, consistent, message that teachers are there to be respected, listened to, obeyed.

"Let me be crystal clear, if any parent now hears a school say, 'Sorry, we can't physically touch the students', then that school is wrong. Plain wrong. The rules of the game have changed."

Teachers can also dole out detention without the current 24 hours' notice.

The Sun told on Monday how more than 1,200 under-eights had been permanently excluded from class since 2006.

Drawing a link with last month's riots, Mr Gove added: "For all the advances we have made, we still every year allow thousands more children to join an educational underclass.

"It is from that underclass that gangs draw their recruits." Shadow education secretary Andy Burnham said: "This Government's policies are making it much harder for the next generation to get on in life."

k.schofield@the-sun.co.uk