Teacher fears over classroom CCTV

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The Association of Teachers and Lecturers (ATL) voiced concern over how increased monitoring of lessons and pressure to get better exam results risks undermining the quality of education.

New school buildings are being fitted with cameras to make sure children can be caught if they misbehave, according to Julia Neal, president of the ATL.

Ms Neal, a history teacher from Torquay Girls' Grammar School in Devon, warned that the cameras could be used to keep an eye on teachers in future as well.

"They (cameras) are probably put in to monitor behaviour," she said, speaking at the ATL annual conference in Torquay.

"But because they are there they can then be used in other ways as well."

She predicted that by 2013, the Government's focus on test results and school league tables - combined with increased observation of lessons - could have "led to a world with Orwellian overtones".

"It might be a far-fetched notion that Big Brother will be watching over schools in the next five years, but you only have to listen to what ATL delegates talk about this week to see the current reality of an over-measured, over-monitored education system," she said.

"Teachers will talk about surveillance cameras in classrooms, about over-zealous observation of their teaching.

"We will hear about teachers delivering a prescriptive curriculum and teaching to the tests in order to secure a good place in the league tables for their school. These issues all add up to an education system which focuses on targets and outcomes, and fails to meet individual pupils' needs despite the Government's pledge for personalisation," she said.