CHANCELLOR Gordon Brown unveiled his pre-election present to schools this week, pledging to give them £11.4 billion over the next three years.

And to avoid cash being swallowed up by bureaucratic red tape, Mr Brown plans to bypass local education authorities and give the money directly to schools.

Headteachers will receive grants according to the size of their school, anything between £6,000 and £20,000 for a primary and from £50,000 to £70,000 for a secondary school.

The cash boost, which will come into effect from next April, will continue every year until 2004, meaning a 5.4 per cent increase in school spending.

Headteacher Jane Creasey of Sir John Lawes School in Manland Way, Harpenden, welcomed the move.

Her school of almost 1,000 pupils stands to receive around £60,000 from the cash bonanza.

She said: 'Something like this is very badly needed, a lot more is expected now from schools and teachers which is a good thing, but they need to be given the best opportunities to do their job.'

Mrs Creasey believes that although being funded directly may make a big difference to some schools, Hertfordshire's education authority is already doing a good job.

She said: 'The county council has an excellent record when it comes to funding schools. It's regrettable that good authorities like Hertfordshire are being penalised because other authorities aren't funding as well.'

Her views were echoed by Mrs Sandra Bird, headteacher of Grove Infants School in Dark Lane, Harpenden.

With more than 270 pupils, her school could be in line for a cash boost totalling £20,000.

She said: 'We welcome any extra money that we are given, but Hertfordshire council has devolved a lot of its budget to schools over the years so we've been lucky in that respect, our LEA has been very good.'

Headteacher of How Wood JMI School in Spooners Drive, Park Street, Mr Dave Richards said: 'It's very good news, we all need extra money provided there are no strings attached.

'Much of our budget is effectively earmarked for certain areas and schools are not allowed the freedom to address particular issues and improve what we think needs improving.'

But the stick that accompanies this financial carrot is that 85 per cent of 14-year-olds must achieve the required standards in maths, English and computing by 2007, which may be difficult for schools with special needs pupils.

A spokesman from Heathlands School for the Deaf in Heathlands Drive, St Albans, said: 'The proposals are still very vague at the moment.

'We fit into two categories because we teach children of both primary and secondary age.

'This money is dependent on at least 85 per cent of pupils meeting certain educational standards and some special schools may miss out because they cannot achieve these, even though they are doing an excellent job.'