CONTROVERSIAL moves to identify under-performing teachers have been attacked by the head of the Bolton branch of the National Union of Teachers.

Branch president, Jason Travis, said plans to be announced by Bolton West MP, Ruth Kelly, would not help children, staff or parents.

Proposals include a move to publish detailed records of pupil performance in every subject in a bid to weed out weak teachers,

Mr Travis said: "We are not saying that teachers should not be held accountable, but the Government seems to be obsessed with performance data, and teaching cannot be measured in that way.

"Teaching is much more complex and depends on a variety of factors including social deprivation. Some teachers might be working hard with a group of children who are doing well, but this might not be reflected in the terms of the grades they achieve."

Under new plans set to be unveiled next month, individual teachers would be rated and parents would have the right to complain to Ofsted - the Government's education watchdog - if they were unhappy.

Poor teachers could be given extra training or in some cases be removed from post.

Education secretary, Ruth Kelly said: "It's a completely new approach and well be able to see precisely how schools are performing and which bits of schools are underperforming.

"It's going to be fantastic because this sort of micro-data has not been available before, and when you have data over a number of years you can really see where pupils are making progress or not making progress. It will be an invaluable tool."

But critics say the exercise will reveal little about schools, given the existing league tables based on examination results in science English and maths, ofsted inspections and school reports.

Mr Travis said: "The worry is that teachers may feel pressured to concentrate on the class high achievers to ensure their performance rate is good.

"I know teachers who fight very hard to keep difficult children in their class and these children may now suffer as a result because teachers are now having to meet targets."