11 January 2011, London: Rt Hon Michael Gove, Secretary of State for Education addressed over 300 senior education stakeholders, including nearly 60 education ministers from across the world at this year's Education World Forum.

At a time when OECD indicators have shown that other countries are outperforming the UK in children's literacy standards, Gove stressed how countries need to learn from one another.

"This second decade of the 21st century is characterised by uniquely daunting challenges," he stated, going on to highlight the opportunities to overcome these challenges by investing in human and intellectual capital, ultimately by building a better education system.

The Education World Forum is the largest global gathering of education ministers and has become the internationally recognised ministerial forum for debating future practice in education. The focus for 2011, 'Education for Economic Success', attracted leaders from more than 75 countries. 

Gove emphasised the importance of teaching in raising standards in education, focusing on the fact that "the most successful education nations recruit the best possible people into teaching and provide them with high quality teaching and professional development....giving every child access to the best possible teaching."

He continued; "looking at the high performing nations such as Finland, Singapore and South Korea, they select their teachers from amongst the most talented graduates."

He confirmed the government's determination to improve teacher training in England and commitment to establish new centres of excellence in teaching, modelled on the best teaching hospitals.

The Education World Forum has the support of the Departments for Education and Business, Innovation and Skills as well as the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and, through funding from industry partners, is organised by the UK education sector's trade association, BESA (British Educational Suppliers Association).

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© Press Release 2011