Ministers to rush through changes to teaching

Government faces confrontation with unions over attempt to give classroom assistants a greater role by Christmas

Ministers are seeking to rush through agreement on a controversial shake-up of the teaching profession within three months.

David Miliband, the Minister for School Standards, said he hoped that substantial progress over the package – which would allow classroom assistants to take charge of lessons – could be made "by Christmas".

But the Government last night looked to be heading for confrontation with Britain's biggest teachers' union, the National Union of Teachers, over the changes.

Doug McAvoy, the general secretary of the NUT, dismissed the package, saying: "The Government is asking the theatre sister to take over the brain surgery. Parents will not accept such a proposal."

The union is refusing to talk about threats of industrial action, but members are bound to put pressure on their executive for a work-to-rule in schools by the new year if it fails to change the Government's mind. They want to limit their working week to 35 hours, a demand not conceded by the Government.

Announcing the package, Mr Miliband said research showed teachers spent more than a third of their working time teaching. A similar amount went on preparation and professional development, while 17 per cent of their time was spent on administration and management.

Ministers want to see them spending more time in front of the class, and give them guaranteed time off during the school day for preparation and marking.

As a result, they plan to introduce an extra 50,000 classroom assistants – some of whom would take an advanced vocational qualification to allow them to take control of a class. Others would train to become bursars.

Mr Miliband said that hiring an extra 10,000 assistants would save the average teacher 100 minutes per week, while hiring 1,000 bursars would save the average headteacher 168 minutes a week.

Yesterday's documents make it clear that assistants would be under the supervision of a qualified teacher. They add that it would be up to the discretion of the headteacher as to whether the supervisor had to be in the classroom.

"Supervision may include direct supervision in a classroom by the nominated qualified teacher," a document on the proposed changes said. "However, this does not imply that a qualified teacher must be present at all times."

Professor Alan Smithers, an expert on teacher recruitment, accused the Government of opting for "the seemingly cheap option of getting assistants to take over classes from teachers".

He said: "This could even add to teacher workload since they will need supervising".

Other teachers' organisations gave a cautious welcome to the package. David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said that it was a question of money. "Anyone who thinks the Government is going for a cheap option is crass," he said. "Today's Government package is the best, indeed the only, chance of cutting the excessive workload besetting the teaching profession."

Estelle Morris, the Secretary of State for Education, said the reforms would help "make that great big leap" in standards ministers had promised.

But she also repeated the warning she made in yesterday's Independent that next year's direct grants to schools – worth £50,000 extra to a secondary school and £10,000 to a primary – would be withheld if no agreement had been reached.

Ms Morris conceded yesterday she had promised to quit if the Government failed to meet its 2002 primary school maths and English targets.

The issue emerged when the Conservatives discovered that, in a 1999 Commons debate, when asked if she would follow her then boss, David Blunkett, in promising to resign if targets of 80 per cent success in English and 75 per cent in maths were not met, she replied: "Of course I will – I have already done so." She also "generously" offered the resignation of her then deputy, Charles Clarke.

Questioned by the Commons select committee on education earlier this year about whether she would quit, she replied: "I never said I would."

Questioned yesterday, she conceded that she must have said the words but added the rise in literacy and numeracy standards in primary schools were "a huge success story".

Damian Green, the Conservative education spokesman, said yesterday she should carry out her pledge as she had been caught "red-handed".