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Michael Gove and the coalition government are calling it “radicalism”; NASUWAT are describing it as a “recipe for educational inequality and social segregation". We want to know what you think about the blanket invitation for all schools in the UK to become independent academies?

Education Secretary Michael Gove is writing to all primary and secondary schools in England inviting them to become academies. He says that “it's about saying to heads, and boards of governors and teachers - it's up to you.”

Academies are state-funded schools which are independent of local authority control, and this proposal could mean thousands of schools decide to ‘opt-in’ to the scheme. Schools that are rated as outstanding could be eligible for fast-tracking and be free of local authority control by the autumn.

The government argues that schools are improved by having greater autonomy – more choice will be given to parents as the ‘market’ opens up. Schools could find themselves managed by outside companies rather than local authorities.

To date the academy programme, which had plans for up to 400 schools, had been focused on improving standards in the most challenging areas.

However, under the new proposals, academies would be the most successful schools, often in more affluent areas.

Chris Keates, general secretary of the NASUWT, argued that it was wrong to stop local authorities from having a say in proposals for new schools.

She said that such "academies and free schools are a recipe for educational inequality and social segregation".

"Given the imperative to tackle the budget deficit, the Academies Bill represents a costly and unnecessary solution to a problem that simply does not exist."

What do you think?

Budget cuts in education means new ideas are needed

"The last 11 years have been very successful in enabling schools to build a modern infrastructure and to develop learning and teaching, of and with, ICT very effectively."

"The issue now is one of being able to maintain that standard, if budgets are constrained or reduced."

Mary Copeland, Head of Belle Vue girls school in Bradford

ICT has become so embedded in most subjects that it is taken for granted, especially by pupils. However, with a new government promising funding cuts and policy changes, where are schools with technology and, more importantly, where do they want to go?

Michael Gove is a politician that has been notoriously tight-lipped about his attitude to technology. As he settles in as the new schools secretary, he will be evaluating how much funding schools will be allocated for ICT.

He is already reviewing the £55bn Building Schools for the Future program, with insiders saying some savings from the annual £8.5bn new school budget could go towards the Conservatives' plan to start Swedish-style new schools.

Little wonder, then, that teachers, long used to generous budgets for new technology, are starting to fret about the future. "Clearly, infrastructure gets outdated very quickly, that's a real issue," says Paul Butler, an ICT teacher at Didcot girls' school in Oxfordshire. "Because of the national debt, there isn't going to be as much money around. That's going to be a worry."

With worries about future budgets becoming a real threat, schools should be looking for new and innovative ways to maintain the standard of their projects. With regards technology and ICT, we can only move forward, and we should adopt the same stance when it comes to creating innovative ways to funding new technology.