MORE than 100 teachers protested against plans to close five schools in Oldham and replace them with city academies.

Unions claim it will mean students will have to travel further to get to school and private companies will get a say in classrooms.

Last year the council announced plans to close Breeze Hill, Counthill, Grange, Kaskenmoor and South Chadderton schools. They could all close and be replaced with two academies. A meeting between local education officials and the Department for Education and Skills to give the go-ahead was to take place earlier this month but was cancelled due to storms affecting travel.

Education bosses announced a é210m shake-up of secondary education last year - with plans to refurbish or rebuild all the borough's high schools. The Catholic high schools of St Augustine's and Our Lady's would merge, with more places offered at Saddleworth, Blue Coat and Crompton House.

The academies are a flagship part of government education policy. They operate independently and have powers to set their own curriculum.

Sponsor

They must have a private sponsor that contributes é2m to the school in return for a say on class policy.

But members of teaching unions the National Union of Teachers, NASUWT and ATL, have slammed the plans and demonstrated outside council offices. Around 150 teachers, parents and students staged a rally outside Oldham civic centre. Bryan Beckingham, organiser for the NUT, said: "Parents are happy when they are told they will be getting shiny new school buildings. But we are confident we will get a lot of support the more they find out about academy schools.

"As well as the control they can have on classrooms, sponsors can change admission policy and select up to 10 per cent of students through some form of testing. As teachers we are also concerned that these new types of school can opt out of nationally-agreed pay structures."

Council bosses have said the academies would allow the town to benefit from extra government cash.

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