Fears raised over schools plans

A teachers' union has voiced its concerns over possible changes to the way Birmingham's schools are run.

One of the ideas discussed by the city council on Monday was the creation of seven new city academies with private sponsors helping to start and run them.

It is part of its business plan in response to the government's Building Schools for the Future scheme.

But the NUT in the West Midlands claims children will not benefit from schools being in competition with each other.

Bill Anderson, from the NUT, said: "Parents really ought to be very, very worried about this. They are going to break up the 400 schools in Birmingham into separate units, each in competition with each other.

"Certain schools will have an attraction to certain sorts of pupils and the rest can go and hang.

'Involving businesses'

"The point is if you put schools in competition with each other, you get schools that will spiral into decline and those are the schools we are particularly concerned about."

But Tony Howell, from the council, said: "This will be a clear partnership with the sponsors and we are talking about co-sponsors - more than one for each Birmingham academy.

"The sponsors, the Department for Education and Skills (DfES), the government themselves and the local authority will all have a partnership.

"The whole issue around involving businesses into the lives, particularly of 14 to 19-year-olds, is very much a direction we welcome in the city."

A spokesman for the council said the academies are just one part of the business plan which was approved by the cabinet.

It also includes proposals to redevelop all of the city's secondary schools.

The plan has now been sent to the DfES for approval.