I hero worship William Shakespeare for his wit and inspirational writing, for his use of language and his exceptional perception on life and events; his grasp of love, treachery, history, comedy and pathos.  A testament to his brilliance is popularity of his plays in theatres today, more than 400 years after he penned them. As I prefer to celebrate birthdays rather than anniversaries of death, I would like us all to cheer the brilliant Bard, who is 446 today.

For his legacy to continue, his plays need to be taught to our young people today in a way that will equally exhilarate them. If there is ever a reason for booting Labour out of government, it is because of the way they plan to change the curriculum this autumn which would allow English Language and Literature GCSEs to downgrade the importance of studying Shakespeare through live performance in favour of Shakespeare on film. Schools increasingly are turning to “International” GCSEs, which are more rigorous than traditional GCSEs, but do not require pupils to focus on Shakespeare.

I believe every child should be given the opportunity of seeing Shakespeare brought to life in the theatre, preferably at The Globe, which I always find the most thrilling experience, and this year has its best programme ever. Shakespeare is surely part of our British heritage which we should proudly protect and promote.

Anthony Seldon agrees with my passion and writes in today’s Telegraph:

“Familiarity with Shakespeare must begin early, because it is there that the roots are laid for the rest of life. Yet the Bard has been on the retreat in schools. The dropping in October 2008 of tests for all pupils at 14 may have had much to recommend it in our exam-drunk country, but it has damaged the study of Shakespeare, as his plays were a compulsory element. The numbers of pupils in this 11-to-14 age group who have seen one of his plays in the theatre has halved since then.

‘He remains central to English Literature at A-level, but a declining percentage of students are now opting for the subject, while media and film studies are growing apace. Increasingly, there are teachers joining the profession who hardly studied Shakespeare at school, and lack the same passion of older colleagues who were reared on him.

“His plays give unparalleled insights into human nature. He is the greatest psychologist of all time. I have just returned from directing my sixth formers in Othello in the Far East. In Beijing and Ho Chi Minh City, many in the young audience did not understand a word uttered; but they were engrossed. No spinmaster in this, or any other, election has ever approached the manipulative subtlety of Iago.”

I feel hugely disappointed and alarmed at this. And I totally agree that whichever political party wins on 6th May, it must champion a renaissance of Shakespeare in our schools and restore him to his rightful place across the nation, and that Shakespeare should make us proud to be British.

I can’t somehow see Michael Gove dumbing down Shakespeare. And I don’t think the Chinese will either…

Happy St George’s Day too. I am pleased to see my local pub flying the British flag!