As a father of four myself, I know how much children's education means to their parents

Tony Blair

In it, he says the government will always be "passionate about education" and urges parents across the country "not to tolerate a second-class education for their children".

"As a father of four myself, I know how much children's education means to their parents," Mr Blair writes.

The five-year strategy to drive up standards in English secondary schools will be unveiled to the House of Commons by the Education Secretary, David Blunkett, on Monday.

Under the "golden handcuffs" loans pay-off deal those going into subjects in which there are shortages - including maths, science, technology, languages and English - would have 10% of their loan paid off by the government in each of the first 10 years of their careers.

Mr Blunkett said on Breakfast with Frost on BBC One that if they left the profession before then they would still have to pay the "residual amount" of their loans.

Loans 'in chaos'

The plan has been welcomed by the National Association of Head Teachers but it wants to see the scheme offered to all newly-qualified teachers.

Nigel de Gruchy: "It smacks of panic"

Its general secretary, David Hart, said: "The government has now recognised what we have been saying for many weeks, namely that there is a crisis in terms of recruitment into the teaching profession."

The leader of the teachers' union NASUWT, Nigel de Gruchy, said: "It does smack of panic and it proves that NASUWT was right in describing the present situation over teacher recruitment as a crisis and not just a problem."

But he also thought it "threw into chaos" the whole principle of student loans.

"Teaching is a major recruiter of graduates and there are many other shortage subjects besides maths and science," he said.

"Students will be up in arms in protest if they are not one of the favoured group to have their fees waived.

"This is hardly joined-up government. On the one hand they charge students fees while with the other they hand them back."

Numeracy and literacy

The new incentive would be on top of the �4,000 "golden hellos" for which such entrants already qualify after their first year of teaching.

Other incentives include allowing undergraduates to take most teacher training modules during their primary degree to speed up recruitment.

There will also be a multi-million pound pilot project, involving about 60,000 pupils, aimed at helping schools with a high proportion of children who get free school meals to offer a much wider range of extra-curricular activities.

Mr Blunkett will tell MPs on Monday that the aim of the five-year plan is to support greater diversity, with each school encouraged to develop an individual ethos; raise standards achieved by 11 to 14-year-olds and enable individual pupils to develop their particular talents.

A key element in the strategy is the major expansion in the number of specialist schools, from 600 to 1,500, which Mr Blair announced on Thursday.

The target, due to be met by 2006, will mean that 46% of England's secondary schools will enjoy specialist status. New subjects will include engineering, science and enterprise.