LOCAL school teachers claim the Government's plans to create highly-paid "super teachers" will damage the standard of teaching in Lancaster and Morecambe.

The district branch of the National Union of Teachers says proposals to reward super teachers with extra pay and status is fraught with difficulty.

NUT Secretary Sue Fielden of West End County Primary School said: "Children who are happy, motivated and stretched to produce their best work know what an excellent teacher is. Crude test results and stressful annual appraisals will not reveal the true quality of a good teacher."

"Access to super teacher status will be rationed by limited funding and many schools won't be able to afford them at all whilst other schools might plough money into paying for super teachers at the expense of resources for the children."

The Government plans to assess the performance of teachers and reward those who are deemed to be of the highest standard. But many believe that the proposal will poison the school atmosphere.

Sue Fielden added: "All this is not in the interest of individual children but forms part of the Government's relentless drive to achieve its targets by 2002 - election year! Appraisal and performance related pay in the public sector and in private industry has been shown to be both unpopular and counter-productive. The climate of tension and competition will not only damage the teaching profession but, ultimately, the young people in its care. We wish to alert parents in the Lancaster and Morecambe area to the likely effects of the Government's latest initiative in education."

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