article: Deputy PM Nick Clegg said control of the Department for Education would be a key demand of any new power-sharing deal . The Liberal Democrats could seize control of the nation's schools in a coalition deal to erase Michael Gove's 'zany' ideas from the classroom, Nick Clegg signalled today. The Deputy PM said control of the Department for Education would be a key demand of any new power-sharing deal. Mr Clegg said he wanted to avoid a repeat of battling against the 'ideological gimmicks' of Mr Gove, who was the first Tory Education Secretary when the coalition was formed in 2010. Mr Clegg repeatedly clashed with Mr Gove over his education reforms, including Tory plans to scrap GCSEs and a Lib Dem scheme to provide free school meals to under-7s. Mr Gove was demoted from running the ministry in last year's Cabinet reshuffle to become Tory Chief Whip. The Lib Dems have sought to claim the mantle as the 'party of education', pledging to protect spending from 'cradle to college' for 2 to 19-year-olds. In the 2010-15 coalition, the Lib Dems ran three departments: Business, energy and climate change and the Scotland Office. As Deputy PM Mr Clegg oversaw policies across Whitehall, while Danny Alexander also sat in Cabinet as Chief Secretary to the Treasury, acting as George Osborne's deputy. However, senior Lib Dems believe the party should have demanded one of the key departments running public services, like health or education. Today Mr Clegg signalled that he has his sights set on the Department for Education, which runs schools in England. Asked if it was the kind of cabinet post he wanted, he said: 'I would, particularly having wasted a lot of time dealing with a lot of zany, ideological gimmicks from Michael Gove and his team. 'It would be a good thing if the Liberal Democrats were able to run education policy on our own terms, not least because we are the only party which is prepared to give the schools, colleges and nurseries the means that they need to absorb 400,000 new youngsters in our education system over the next five years.' Campaigning in Cornwall, he announced plans for an independent education standards watchdog to restrict ministers' ability to interfere with the contents of the national curriculum and exams. Mr Clegg said he wanted to 'get politics out of the classroom'. Establishing an Educational Standards Authority (ESA) is part of a plan for England which would also include a new Royal College of Teachers. Other measures include curbing some of the reforms put in place by Mr Gove, with the Lib Dems insisting that all teachers in state-funded schools - including academies and free schools - have qualified status or are working towards it. A slimmed-down core national curriculum would be compulsory in all state schools, bringing free schools and academies in line with those run by councils. Michael Gove was demoted from running the Department for Education in last year's Cabinet reshuffle to become Tory Chief Whip . The Lib Dems have also committed to increase funding for the education budget for two to 19-year-olds by 2020, ensuring that the amount of cash per pupil would be protected in real terms. Mr Clegg said he would 'turn a page on the Gove-esque centralising interference in what teachers teach in the classroom'. He said: 'We are setting out ideas and amplifying ideas today which will take out a lot of the political interference which has dogged the day-to-day life of teachers far too much - from the micromanagement of the history curriculum by Michael Gove through to excessive day-to-day workload.' Mr Clegg also promised to restore morale in the teaching profession. 'I get very distressed when I hear how teachers feel that they have been somewhat put upon in recent years,' he said, promising to 'celebrate not denigrate the great, noble profession'. The Tories tonight hit back at the criticism. A friend of Mr Gove said: 'By zany and ideological, does Clegg mean teaching children to spell properly and do their times tables? 'Or making exams harder? Or training teachers in schools rather than left-wing colleges dominated by the unions? Either he's lost the plot or he's lying again, as he did on tuition fees.' A Conservative Party spokesman added: 'Decisions about what is in the curriculum should lie in the hands of those who can be held to account by parents at the ballot box - not unelected bureaucrats as proposed by the Lib Dems. 'The Lib Dems can't run on their record and run away from it at the same time. They signed up to the new National Curriculum, now they want to re-write it all over again. They voted for extending academy freedoms over the curriculum, now they want to scrap them. 'It's thanks to Conservative reforms that 1,000,000 more pupils are now in good or outstanding schools. Conservative policies have delivered a 71% increase in students taking rigorous academic subjects and ensured 100,000 six year olds are reading more confidently. 'The biggest risk to our education system would be the chaos of Ed Miliband as Prime Minister - and voting Lib Dem will only make that more likely.'
highlights: Lib Dem leader makes a promise to take 'politics out of the classroom'
  In last government Lib Dems ran Business, Energy and Scotland .
  But Clegg reveals plan to demand control of major public policy area .
  Accuses Tory minister Michael Gove of imposing 'ideological gimmicks'
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