Ed Balls has been busy previewing his plans for Primary Schools.  Compulsory foreign language lessons was widely trailed over the weekend.  The Times clearly received a more detailed briefing today. ('Tailored testing for pupils at primaries') which includes giving schools far more flexibility in deciding when individual pupils are ready to take national tests.

In her commentary Alexandra Frean sets these announcements in the context of the Government's approach to children in general ('Focus on the individual is not without problems')

With the Conservatives setting out their own plans and Lib Dem leadership candidates eager to express their views, it seems that education is creeping up the political agenda to a level it hasn't been since the early days of the Blair Government.

Also in today's news:

Courage and Coalition - Peter Preston in The Guardian asks Clegg and Huhne to commit political hara-kire by being more explicit their likely negotiation positions for coalition deals after the next General Election.

The next decade might just belong to the Lib Dems - Martin Kettle - The Guardian (actually appeared on Saturday 8th Dec)