WE’LL FUND MONTESSORI AND STEINER SCHOOLS, SAY TORIES

Under the radical new rules, parents, charities and voluntary groups will be given the right to apply for state ­funding for more alternative schools to be set up and be free from the national ­curriculum.

The Montessori method of ­teaching, developed in 1907, encourages ­youngsters to learn at their own pace and allows children to choose what activities they want to engage in, while tests are discouraged.

Steiner schools avoid teaching ­reading until the age of seven and are based on a system which values ­spiritual and emotional development in children as highly as teaching them the ‘three Rs’ .

Tory schools spokesman Michael Gove said parents should be given the opportunity to chose what type of education they want for their children.

He said: “If we are about enabling choice and diversity, it is only right to allow both movements to become essentially state-funded schools.”

Schools would receive funding for the pupils but would have to offer an open selection ­process and ­produce a viable business plan.