The school workforce agreement, designed to reduce the workload of teachers, came into force today amid stern warnings from the teaching unions that the government must enable schools to stick to its provisions, or be prepared for strike action.
The National Union of Teachers, whose relationship with the government sunk to an all-time low after it refused to commit to the agreement in January, warned that industrial action - including strikes - would be balloted for where teachers faced disciplinary action for refusing to undertake extra work as a result of the changing role of classroom assistants.
The union fears giving assistants responsibility for whole-class teaching will create more work for teachers, who will have to prepare and mark the lessons.
The first stage of the three-part workforce reforms, which will eventually guarantee teachers time out of the classroom for preparation, came into force today. From the beginning of this school term 23 administrative tasks will be transferred from teachers to classroom assistants. Schools must also be able to guarantee a better work/life balance for its teachers.
The NUT refused to sign up to the agreement because of proposals to increase the responsibilities of classroom assistants. It claimed allowing assistants to take whole classes undermined the teaching profession. Teaching should remain an all-graduate profession, it said.
The National Association of Schoolmasters Union of Women Teachers, usually a staunch supporter of the government's workforce agreement, today reiterated its commitment to industrial action where funding shortages - or anything else - threatened the package of contractual reforms.
Eamonn O'Kane, its general secretary, told EducationGuardian.co.uk: "Where a school specifically refuses to implement the national agreement then we would engage in industrial action. It could well be that if it got worse and disciplinary action followed then that dispute would escalate into further action - including strike action.
"We've made it abundantly clear that these are non-negotiable contractual changes."
Referring to the "thorough" survey of schools' funding carried out by The Guardian and published today, he said "There are worries, but clearly they are localised."
The Guardian's survey of all local education authorities showed an overall increase in support staff posts, with nearly 700 new posts created in just 10 LEAs. The survey also found that 32 LEAs had lost 312 posts.
The NASUWT faces another battle with the government this term over its opposition to the proposed three-year pay deal.
