Schools controlled by Derbyshire County Council will be operating a new six-term system from 2004.

The current proposals are a recipe for chaos, for pupils, parents and staff

Dave Wilkinson, NASUWT teachers' union

The council says the changes will help reduce teacher stress and improve planning.

But the main teachers' unions say the changes will be a recipe for chaos - and could provoke a strike.

Terms will be of equal length, with no term longer than 7 weeks and 3 days.

'Ignoring opinions'

The council says a recent survey showed 74% of people were in favour of the change.

The secretary of the Derbyshire branch of the NUT, Bill Greenshields, said: "I cannot imagine if you were restructuring any other service, say a hospital, you would go ahead with that restructuring on the basis of a public vote.

"This is like ignoring the opinions of the doctors, the hospital administrators and nurses.

"These professional views matter and must be taken into account."

The six-term system is designed to make the school year more regular, with a long autumn break and a fixed Easter holiday.

Derby City Council, which considered and rejected the idea in the past, is now again consulting on the matter.

Other authorities

But the local representative for the NASUWT union, which has 5,270 members in the area, Dave Wilkinson, said the county's decision was "bizarre".

The neighbouring education authorities of Leicestershire, Nottinghamshire, the City of Nottingham, Cheshire, Manchester and Stockport had all rejected the idea.

"Furthermore, there are several large secondary schools where pupils travel from Derby to Derbyshire, Derbyshire to Nottinghamshire and vice versa.

"The current proposals are a recipe for chaos, for pupils, parents and staff."

In a survey, 90% of his members opposed the proposals and nearly 75% were in favour of protest strike action, which could now be on the cards.