TEACHERS were ordered to put greater emphasis on teaching standards of southern-style English - even though their pupils may speak with a pronounced regional accent.

The order came in another major Government shake-up of how English is taught in schools.

Behind the move was the fear of experts in the education department that strong regional accents could disadvantage pupils in later life.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.