It has been announced this week that teachers are set to strike again in England during the Summer term after rejecting the governments most recent pay offer.
Almost 200,00o members of the National Education Union (NEU) voted against the pay deal in an electronic ballot. Teachers were offered a one-off payment of £1,000 for this year along with a 4.3% pay rise to come next year. Starting salaries were also set to rise as of September to £30,000. An offer that the government thought was fair, however, NEU members do not think it’s good enough.
Previous strikes have caused mass disruption to schools, forcing some to close completely on strike days. With teachers set to strike again the NEU have stated how they will work to ensure that pupils studying for GCSEs or A-Levels will not be affected. The most recent strikes that have been announced will take place on Thursday 27th April and Tuesday 2nd May 2023. The NEU have spoken about how these further strike dates can be avoided should the education secretary, Gillian Kegan, offer a ‘much better proposal’ than the existing one.
Overall, the recent teacher strikes in the UK highlight the challenges facing the education system and the pressures faced by teachers and other education professionals. The issues of pay, workload, and funding remain major concerns for many in the sector, and it is likely that further strikes or other forms of industrial action may take place in the future if the government fails to propose a better pay offer.
Read more from the Amethyst Education blog here.