Scores of protesters are expected to besiege Bradford City Hall over controversial plans to axe language teachers for Asian children from district schools.

The National Union of Teachers in Bradford is canvassing support against a £400,000 cut to section 11 funding which helps Asian children learn English in school.

The cut will lead to the loss of 20 support teachers and 20 nursery nurses across the district.

The teaching of community languages such as Urdu will also be hit by a £250,000 cut by the education authority to meet a £1.2m special needs overspend.

Jane Rendle, of the NUT, said the cutbacks would impede the progress of Asian children in schools, particularly in English, which was regrettable in Bradford's Year of Literacy.

"All the results show that children from ethnic minority communities in Bradford are not achieving at the same levels as other pupils within the school system," she said.

"This is an argument for more support, not less. A cut to a section of the community which needs additional support flies in the face of the Council's own equal opportunities' policy."

The NUT has warned parents that all children in schools that lose this support will be affected.

"Removing the staff won't remove the need. Overstretched staff will have less time for all children," said Ms Rendle.

The NUT has organised a petition which will be presented to Bradford Council when it sets the 1998/99 budget on March 3.

The union, along with the Racial Equality Council, is planning to stage a rally on the day outside City Hall and is expecting scores of parents and teachers to turn up for the protest.

The meeting will be held at City Hall on March 3 at 4pm.

The Bishop of Bradford, the Right Reverend David Smith, has been asked to back the protest.

Education chairman Jim Flood said: "Section 11 has never been cut in Bradford until now but because of an overspend in special needs we can no longer afford to protect any individual area.

"We are having to redirect money from section 11 and many other areas into special needs. It is not a cut, it is a redirection. That money will still find its way into schools."

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