David Blunkett meets a customer

"We want to avoid the 'blue eyed' treatment" (dur 3'40")

Blunkett Plan for 'Superteachers'

The Education Secretary, David Blunket, wants to give a new grade of "super teachers" extra pay for their role in raising school standards.

He's written to the School Teachers' Review Body, which looks at classroom pay, asking it to consider how best to reward the new grade of Advanced Skills Teachers.

Mr Blunkett told BBC Radio's Today programme that the object of the plan was to enable teachers with the best experience to pass it on to others.

"We want something that enables people to be rewarded for staying in the classroom because they are good at that job rather than having to seek the reward of being promoted to headships. Obviously someone can be a good manager, but we want the good teachers to stay in the classroom as well."

The Education Secretary conceded that his department would have to address the issue of the pay disparity between secondary and primary teachers within the next few years. He also said that although schemes like the 'superteachers' plan would cost extra money, this money would not come out of funds for essential resources.

Doug McAvoy: "I'm not happy"

The teaching unions have already expressed their doubts about the Government's plans for a flexible pay structure, but as a whole teaching unions have consistently back the idea of a 'master teacher' grade.

However Doug McAvoy, the head of the biggest teaching union the NUT said he believed extra pay should be for all teachers, and that the low pay of primary school teachers should me a more urgent consideration.

He also criticised Mr Blunkett for "going about things back to front" by asking the pay review body to advise on salaries without first defining what job responsibilities should be.

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