HEADTEACHERS across the country say they are compromising their principles to get state-of-the-art school buildings.

Necessity has forced a change in attitude to private finance initiatives with schools now facing a backlog of repairs which will cost pound;7 billion nationwide.

In England, PFI schemes stretch from Liverpool to Brighton with Stoke-on-Trent handing over its 122 schools to Balfour Beattie (see below) for refurbishment.

In Scotland, all of Glasgow’s secondary schools have been replaced or modernised..

David Hart, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, said: “There is little point opposing PFI. It is the only game in town. What we have to do is make it acceptable to heads.

“If people can identify examples of how PFI has been an unmitigated disaster in terms of the construction and quality of buildings, then that has to be looked at, but I do not get that impression.”

Richard Bloodworth, head of Durham Johnston comprehensive. is an “Old Labour” stalwart and opposed to PFI. But he wants Durham County Council to submit a bid to government and include his school. “I am desperate,” he said. “If PFI is the only way to do it, then so be it.”

The school’s two sites in Durham city were built in the 1930s and the 1950s. Mr Bloodworth said its music, art, drama, science, and information technology facilities were inadequate and added: “The PE facilities are the worst, they are unspeakable.” Five science labs are still as they were in the Fifties, home economics is taught in classrooms deemed temporary 30 years ago, and the entire maths department is housed in what he calls “huts”. The school’s exam results top national league tables, despite these limitations.

“Personally, I think PFI is the wrong way to go about it,” said Mr Bloodworth. “I am told it costs more, takes longer, lines the pockets of lawyers and bankers - and it uses public money to do it.

“But I am also told that either PFI or public-private partnerships are the only way local authorities can get their hands on money for refurbishment.”

Kate Griffin, president of the Secondary Heads Association and head of Greenford high school, Ealing, west London, has tried and failed twice to attract private money for a PFI bid at her school to rebuild a dining room.

Despite the experience, the school is now involved in a larger, LEA-wide bid involving rebuilding or refurbishing the whole school.

Mrs Griffin said: “Heads have realised there is not going to be any significant capital money from any other sources, therefore they are looking at PFI with more interest.”

But there can be problems. More than 1,000 primary pupils in Liverpool missed eight school days this month when their three new-build PFI schools failed to open on time.

Liverpool City Council has a pound;300m PFI contract with Jarvis to rebuild 15 schools, upgrade three and manage facilities for all 18.

A council spokesman said Jarvis blamed a shortage of specialised sub-contractors for the delay.