Michael Gove defends academies push

Education secretary says scheme for schools to opt out of local authority control was debated during election campaign

The education secretary, Michael Gove, has defended himself against accusations that MPs had not had enough time to debate flagship legislation to transform England's schools, arguing that the plans were well-aired during the election.

MPs will this afternoon get their first chance to debate a bill that allows every school in England to become an academy – with schools rated outstanding by Ofsted being fast-tracked, so that hundreds could convert by the start of the new school year. To enable this to happen, the government has compressed the committee stage in which bills are usually studied in detail by a panel of MPs. Instead, this stage will take place in two days on the floor of the House of Commons.

Gove said the bill was a centrepiece of the election campaign and schools needed to be rescued from decline.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: "Rushed laws can be bad laws. But it is also the case that if you've had extensive debate during the course of an election campaign, if you have, as we have, hundreds of schools who are anxious to take advantage of these proposals, then it is understandable that you want to honour the manifesto commitment."

Debate on the bill will come as teachers and parents arrive at parliament to protest against the scrapping of a £55bn school building programme. Construction workers, pupils, school governors, local authority officials and MPs will also take part in the rally organised by the teaching union NASUWT.

The academies bill restores freedoms removed from the schools under Gordon Brown, including the right to abandon the national curriculum – though a new curriculum must be "balanced and broadly based".

At present there are 203 academies, most of which have replaced weak or underperforming schools. Figures published last week showed that just over 1,900 schools have expressed an interest in converting to academy status, including 1,038 rated outstanding, and Gove hopes a large number of these will be converted by September. For this to happen, the bill needs to be passed before parliament rises for the summer recess next week.

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