Some school principals in Ireland are being blackmailed into providing preparation for pupils planning to sit new grammar entrance tests, it was claimed today.

Seamus Searson, regional organiser of the NASUWT and secretary of the Northern Ireland Teachers' Council (NITC), said parents are telling them that if they don't teach the tests then they will take their children to another school.

"This is an impossible position to put a principal in and may expose him or her to legal action for failing to teach the revised curriculum," he said.

Mr Searson was speaking [http://www.spunkjunks.com] following a meeting this week between NITC and the Assembly's education committee.

The deputation, representing all the recognised teacher unions, urged politicians to come together to work towards a compromise solution which would take schools out of the current unregulated system.

Most grammar schools plan [http://www.lust4asia.com] to set entrance exams this autumn to determine their first year intake. However, secondary schools are likely to follow non-academic admissions guidance set by Education Minister Caitriona Ruane.

Avril Hall-Callaghan, General Secretary of UTU and Chair of the NITC, said: "Some primary schools are in an impossible situation.

"They are being advised to teach the revised curriculum, a curriculum which they are fully supportive of, but at the same time parents are expecting them to prepare pupils for a plethora of different tests to gain entry to grammar schools.

"In some cases teachers are being torn between what the Department of Education and employing authorities are telling them they must do and what boards of governors are expecting them to do.

"We must persuade the politicians that schools cannot become the battle-grounds - those battles must be resolved through mature political debate with everyone committed to making progress. Northern Ireland's education system must move into the 21st century."

David Canning, Northern Ireland president of NAHT and a primary principal from Strabane, said: "We are calling on the politicians, even at this late stage, to talk to one another and find a way out of the difficult situation schools are experiencing.

"We should be concentrating on what is best for children, not on preserving institutions."

Andy Brown, senior vice-president of ATL and a grammar school teacher from Ballymena, said it was unfair to expect teachers in primary schools to prepare children for the test in addition to their full teaching commitment. He also said that teachers in grammars were in some cases going to be expected to supervise the tests.

"Where does that leave those teachers if there are legal challenges made?" he added.

Tony Carlin, a senior official of the Irish National Teachers' Organisation, said he had been inundated with calls from members.

An NITC deputation is scheduled to meet with the Education Minister within the next fortnight.