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 ca n'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 . '
Lib Dem leader makes a promise to take ' democracy out of the classroom ' In last government Lib leader ran unopposed , Energy and Scotland . But leader reveals plan to demand reform of major public sector area . deputy Tory minister Michael Gove of imposing ' ideological reforms '