He said: “You are not becoming a better nation, a more cohesive community by rejecting the past, removing the past. Half of Whitehall should be demolished … You explain the past, you explain both sides. “There are some really important things that happened, which are great things that we exported to the rest of the world, as well as the less good things. I think it is very important. “And I feel deeply uncomfortable that we are starting to see everything through the lens of 2022, when life was very different in previous centuries and values were different then.” He added: “I am deeply concerned. It worries me that it is not just happening in the UK, it is happening in the US. “My two sons went to Princeton University and were shocked that there was a movement to remove Woodrow Wilson’s name from the Woodrow Wilson School of Government.”
Learning from the mistakes of the pandemic
Mr Zahawi published a white paper on large schools for education this week, admitting it was “wrong” for the government to order the closure of schools in England when the coronavirus epidemic struck. He said ministers had now accepted that “it was wrong to keep them out of school”, adding: “I take collective responsibility. I am a member of the Government. “The Prime Minister would agree with me on this, that the way we dealt with the pandemic – we must learn from our mistakes. “The school remained open and – I commend it – to the critical front-line workers.” Mr Zahawi has pledged to increase the number of primary school children who can meet expected standards in reading, writing and math to 90 per cent by 2030, from 65 per cent in 2019. All schools will be converted into academies, including religious and grammar schools, which will be allowed to continue to select their recruits until the end of the decade. Mr Zahawi, who was promoted from Minister of Vaccines to Secretary of Education in the cabinet reshuffle last September, said he was applying the lessons learned from the release of the Covid-19 vaccine. “You do not have high efficiency through regulation. The way you achieve high performance is by proving it and then scaling it up. I did it in the vaccine. “I will do it here again,” he said. “High-performing multicultural academies – like the Boleyn Trust, like the Harris Trust – have outperformed. We need to find a way to integrate each school into this family of high-performing schools. “
“It’s all about the results for the children”
Just as his focus was on firing his weapons, Mr. Zahawi said he was concerned about giving children the knowledge and skills they need to leave school. “I was never interested when I got vaccinated, how many vaccines we had in stock. I said to my whole team, “we want to know how many people we have in our arms because that’s how we save lives.” “It’s all about the results – it’s the same here. “If we all remember – whether the unions or anyone else – that the results of a child are important, then we will prove it and we will not do much wrong.” He declined to say whether he would allow more selective high schools to open, saying: “I want their ethos, their DNA to spread in our school system.” But his focus should have been on all schools, not just the 165 high schools: “If every day, every week, there are kids who go to 900 schools that are inferior, inadequate in our system, it’s a miserable future for them. the children. “It’s an opportunity I missed for these kids. And my focus must be on the scale. “
Political possibilities
Zahawi – who has lost weight in recent months – is considered a possible successor to Boris Johnson if the prime minister is forced to step down over the “Partygate” controversy or other unforeseen controversy. Asked about the definition of a woman – an issue that has sidelined Labor politicians – he said: “A woman is an adult woman. My favorite subject in school was human biology. That’s a straightforward answer. “ When I asked if the Prime Minister was Tories who was reducing taxes, he replied immediately: “Yes, I am, as are the Prime Minister and the Chancellor.” He was fiercely loyal to Mr Johnson, describing him as “the most consistent leader of his generation”. But he did not explicitly rule out the possibility of leadership, despite insisting that the “TL” mark on the lapel of his jacket meant “T-Levels” and not “Tory Leader”. His focus now was on improving standards in schools: “I want as much time in education. The average term of a minister in education is 17 months. If you remove Gove and Blunkett from it, it will be even shorter. “I hope to break both of their records because if I can do that, it’s really a legacy for this country that gave this immigrant boy everything. “If I can deliver it, there is nothing more valuable on earth than human capital. Nothing. “And if I could deliver new minds as healthy, capable adults living happy, productive lives and I would do something really great for the country that has given me everything.” Listen to Christopher Hope’s interview with Nadhim Zahawi on Chopper’s Politics on The Telegraph’s weekly political podcast, using the audio player at the top of this article or on the Apple Podcast, Spotify, or your favorite podcast app.
