GOVERNMENT officials will be coming to Bolton tomorrow to decide if the council can set up a controversial Education Action Zone in the town. They will look in detail at Bolton's bid to set up a special zone which education chiefs believe will boost standards in 18 schools in Breightmet and Tonge. But some unions, including the National Union of Teachers and UNISON, are opposed to the move, claiming it could eventually lead to schools falling into the hands of big business.

Tomorrow, education chiefs will try to convince Whitehall officials that they can raise standards in zone schools if they are given extra money to carry out their ideas.

Inspectors will look at the draft bid which includes plans to train large numbers of mums and dads as classroom assistants, teach lunchtime supervisors educational playground games, provide extra training for school managers and set up a network of homework clubs.

The Department for Education and Employment staff will also examine more controversial proposals which could lead to changes to the curriculum in an attempt to cut the number of children leaving school without qualifications.

However, officials will be told that plans to hand over school buildings to a specially set-up foundation have been put on the back burner for the time being.

Forum

If officials give the go-ahead, 18 primary, secondary and special schools will share £750,000 extra every year for three years and a zone forum will decide how the money will be spent.

Education chiefs must raise a similar sum in sponsorship and local businesses leaders, who get seats on the forum, have verbally pledged £750,000 a year in goods and services.

But some union chiefs are unhappy about businesses having a say in schools and are particularly annoyed that company bosses will be able to sit on the zone forum without donating hard cash. Some councillors share their concerns and they will ask officials if they can increase the number of town hall representatives on the forum without prejudicing the bid.

NUT leader Tom Hanley attacked the council for handing over some their powers and said: "For a small notional sum in matched expenditure, organisations can get a foothold in schools.

"For £750,000 of help in kind, the private sector will be getting a significant amount of control over the curriculum and and career prospects of children in these schools."

But Education Director Margaret Blenkinsop hit back, saying any work in the zone would be in addition to and not instead of what schools are already doing.

It would run alongside and not replace existing educational practices in the borough.

She said: "I do not think there is any room for criticism about the private sector taking over the curriculum because I cannot see how it can happen."

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