Assistants must take charge of lessons, Blair tells teachers

Tony Blair is warning teachers they must accept "radical reforms" if they want time off from the classroom for marking and preparation. The Prime Minister, in an article to be published in the National Union of Teachers' magazine, says giving them half a day off for marking and preparation every week is dependent on them allowing classroom assistants to take lessons.

His stance immediately provoked a row with the union and is likely to harden attitudes, paving the way for possible industrial action in the new year. Negotiations continue on reducing teachers' workload and modernising the profession, with ministers hoping for a deal within eight weeks.

Mr Blair wrote: "Support staff will have enhanced roles in schools, freeing teachers to teach. We are pressing ahead with proposals to give 10 per cent of time in school guaranteed as non-contact time in school every week.

"To do this, we have better-trained teaching assistants to take over more tasks. New higher-level teaching assistants will help cover lessons where a teacher has set work for the class, perhaps while the teacher works intensively with groups of children in the same room. We are introducing firm guidance to make sure assistants will be subject to super-vision by qualified teachers."

Mr Blair said the introduction of performance-related pay had given teachers the opportunity to earn up to £32,000 a year within seven years of entering the profession.

Doug McAvoy, general secretary of the NUT, said members believed ministers were trying to "substitute teachers with others not qualified to teach, undermining an all-graduate teaching profession". He wants to meet Mr Blair.