TEACHERS union bosses in East Lancashire say plans to introduce performance-related pay will create a 'tidal wave' of bureaucracy.

Andrew Jones, secretary of the NASUWT in the county says the amount of paperwork teachers have to do to earn an extra £2,000 is bad news for schools.

And he says the bureaucracy will mean teachers who are good at filling forms in will be those who are rewarded, rather than those who perform well in the classroom.

He said: "The premium is put on the expert bidder at the expense of the good classroom performer.

"In its anti-bureaucracy literature the Government emphasises the need to avoid duplication. But in the Chief Inspector of Education's report it is already shown that 90 per cent of lessons are either very good, good or satisfactory.

"It is a great shame that the rushed timetable and the apparent lack of confidence among thousands of headteachers to conduct classroom observation effectively, has resulted in a switch away from practical proficiency in the classroom to the customary paper-based exercise favoured by bureaucrats."

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