HUNDREDS of thousands of members of the National Education Union (NEU) are on strike in 23,400 schools throughout England and Wales today and next Tuesday.
There are thousands of picket lines outside schools around the country, with 300,000 teachers demanding a pay rise in line with inflation.
Teachers are striking following the largest vote for strike action achieved by any union ever in the UK.
The NEU strike has been called after teachers in England, 90.44 per cent of members taking part in the ballot voted YES to taking industrial action on a turnout of 53.27 per cent.
Teachers in Wales voted by 92 per cent for strike action on a turnout of 58.07 per cent.
Support staff in Wales voted 88 per cent for strike action on a turnout of 51.30 per cent.
In England, a ballot result of support staff saw 84 per cent of members vote YES on a turnout of 46.46 per cent.
This result, despite being hugely in favour of action, just missed the government’s restrictive thresholds.
Commenting on the government’s outline of how money promised in the autumn statement will be distributed to state schools in England, Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the NEU, said yesterday: ‘It is amazing the Department of Education is choosing to boast that education funding will finally match 2009-2010 levels by 2024-25.
‘Their expectations must be very low indeed if they consider this progress, or in any way acceptable.
‘It is evidence of profound failure at the heart of government that education funding will not have increased in real terms over 15 years.
‘It ignores the significant comparable decline in the pay of teachers compared with other professions and the associated problems in recruitment and retention.
‘It ignores the huge cuts to children’s services elsewhere that are impacting on schools…
‘Class sizes are at record levels – primary class sizes are the highest in Europe and secondary class sizes are the highest since records began more than 40 years ago.
‘All children deserve to be taught in classes of fewer than 30 led by a qualified teacher, but this is simply not being addressed.
‘Nor is the recruitment and retention crisis, when the government cannot even meet its own targets in teacher training and their pay offer to existing teachers is rejected for being “insulting”. No wonder teachers are leaving the profession in high numbers.
‘The education sector needs more money and needs it now.’
