FIVE local high schools are expected to submit bids this month to become specialist schools.
They are likely to be Broad Oak (sport), Coney Green (technology), Derby (science and arts), Radcliffe (technology) and St Monica's (languages).
The Government wants to see 1,500 specialist schools in the country by 2005. Bury is among only three per cent of 150 local education authorities not to have any specialist schools just yet.
The idea is to raise standards of achievement, particularly in the specialist subjects, and also benefit other schools in the area.
Other specialist subjects are engineering, business and enterprise, and mathematics and computing.
Schools bidding to become specialist must raise £50,000 in sponsorship. If successful, they will receive £100,000 in a one-off grant, plus up to £123,000 in funding for four years.
Bury councillors have agreed to offer practical support equally to all schools who bid. They want to work with them to ensure that the benefits reach all schools and that a hierarchy does not develop.
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