Already accused of responding with "all's well" spin to a barrage of teachers' concerns over schooling -- ranging from serious staff shortages to forcing schools to accept disruptive pupils -- the government has been given another warning by the profession over how tarnished its flagship education policy has become.

For Education Secretary Estelle Morris has been rapped by the principal of an East Lancashire sixth-form college for adding confusion and stress to his teachers' workload.

Coming hard on the heels of criticism by the heads of nine of the region's schools of the government's league tables and of sharp disapproval voiced by others of its education policies -- particularly its apparent indifference to the severe recruitment crisis affecting the quality of many children's schooling -- Michael Finley, head of St Mary's College in Blackburn, accused the Minister of imposing knee-jerk changes on the new AS examinations that devalue pupils' efforts and pile stress and confusion on teachers preparing them for the tests.

For a profession that has already been battered by continual chop and change, Mr Finley's call for it to enjoy some stability is one that the government would do well to heed when the litany of complaints voiced by teachers in East Lancashire in recent months suggests that a thorough review of its education policy is now due on every front -- ranging from pay and conditions to workloads and endless 'new ideas' upheaval -- if the numbers leaving teaching are to be reduced.

To its credit, the government has responded positively to improving the working conditions of teachers and pupils in Lancashire, with the announcement of a £75-million package for improving and repairing school buildings. But on top of this, it must seriously address the evident and growing crisis in teachers' morale.