Advocates of syntheticphonics believe that children should have an intensive period of learning letter-combination sounds before they are introduced to books.
Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), said syntheticphonics was an essential contribution to helping most children learn to read.
Most ominously, both Mr Gove and the Tories' leader, David Cameron, are fond of party-pleasing prescriptions, including policies for which proof of effectiveness is non-existent (school uniforms) or limited (insisting on syntheticphonics for teaching reading).
But look who it has appointed to carry it out: Jim Rose, former Deputy Chief Inspector of Schools in England - knighted this summer following his 2006 report into the teaching of early reading, with its emphasis on syntheticphonics.