I was a pathetic show-off at school, Gove confesses

In an open letter, the Education Secretary said he cringes when he remembers his 15-year-old self, lurking at the back of the classroom, competing to ask “clever-dick questions” and indulging in “pathetic showing off”.

He urges Mr Montgomery, to whom he refers as Danny, to accept his tardy apology, since apologies from politicians are “as rare as away wins for Queens Park Rangers”.

Mr Gove, who is a QPR fan, said he now realises that Mr Montgomery, who schooled the minister in languages at Robert Gordon’s College in Aberdeen, was trying to broaden his pupils’ horizons.

The letter, published in the Radio Times, says: “It may be too late to say I’m sorry. Thirty years too late. But since apologies from politicians are considered as rare as away wins for Queen’s Park 
Rangers, I hope you will accept mine.

“Because when I look back at the 15-year-old I was, lurking at the back of your French class at Robert Gordon’s College in Aberdeen, I cringe.

“You were trying, patiently, doggedly, good-humouredly, to broaden our horizons. You were, without any pretension or pomposity, attempting to coax a group of hormonal lads to look beyond familiar horizons and venture further.

“You weren’t just dinning irregular verbs into our heads, you were opening up a different way of seeing. And all we could do was compete to think of clever-dick questions to embarrass you and indulge in pathetic showing-off at your expense.”

Mr Gove writes that his former teacher was “unaffectedly passionate” about both French and German.

But he was confronted with a “cocksure crew of precociously assertive boys who recognised you were only a few years older – a rookie in the classroom – and therefore ripe for ragging”.

Mr Gove acknowledges that because they misbehaved they missed out, and thanks Mr Montgomery for his perseverance.

“As I’ve grown up – and become a father myself – my gratitude
only grows. To you, and to everyone else in your profession,” he says.

Mr Gove goes on to tell the teacher that his work, and that of the rest of the teaching profession is “hugely appreciated”.

He ends by saying: “So Danny, it may be too late to say I’m sorry. But, as my mum told me, it’s
never too late to set the record straight.

“And you were a great teacher – one of many who helped introduce me to the work of great thinkers and writers – and
thus gave me the greatest gift of all – the chance to write my own life story.”