Furious parents are ‘left in limbo’ over teacher strikes tomorrow with one school saying it might not announce closure until AFTER children are dropped off as millions of pupils face being turned away at the gates
- Parents are concerned about children’s education as 100,000 teachers strike
- Schools are trying to prepare for the walkout, but many families feel left in limbo
Furious parents fear their children will be turned away from school tomorrow as more than 100,000 teachers strike in demand of higher pay.
Some schools have offered to stay open tomorrow, monitoring children in a common space such as the library, while others have told families they will announce closures the day of.
A school in Wales told parents they would send a text by 9am tomorrow – which parents have deemed ‘unacceptably late’ – to notify families whether or not the institution will hold classes.
Parents argue there has been a ‘massive disruption to education after Covid’ and that educators are not prioritising the needs of pupils or their families.
Furious parents are concerned about their children’s learning as thousands of schools prepare for teachers to strike tomorrow in demand of higher pay
Some schools have offered to stay open tomorrow, monitoring children in a common space such as the library, while others have told families they will announce closures the day of
Hundreds of thousands of workers will go on strike tomorrow in separate disputes over pay, jobs and conditions in what will be the biggest day of industrial action in more than a decade.
Teachers in England and Wales, who are members of the National Education Union (NEU), have planned to walk out, affecting an estimated more than 23,000 schools.
Support staff in Wales, who are members of the NEU, will also take part in the action.
Frustrated parents are fuming over the way schools are handling the walk outs, arguing that the fate of their children’s education has been left in limbo.
A Welsh couple, whose five-year-old attends Bro Ogwr School in Bridgend, has complained after the institution told parents it intends to stay open tomorrow but will issue a text after 9am if parents need to ‘collect your child(ren).’
‘No one is happy with their pay but I don’t agree with strikes, the boy’s father told The Express. He argued the school should ‘just be shut’ tomorrow if officials are unsure about their ability to operate.
The youngster’s mother, who noted they were able to find alternative childcare options for tomorrow, said she was ‘shocked’ that the school was instructing families to drop children off without a set plan.
The couple slammed Bro Ogwr School for ‘not thinking about the impact on working parents’ who may not be able to drop everything and leave work if the school suddenly decides to close.
Members of the EIS and NASUWT unions, join the picket line at Craigmount High School in Edinburgh on January 11. Secondary schools around Scotland are shut as members of the EIS and SSTA unions take strike action in a dispute over pay
Teachers gather to demonstrate as they continue their strike demanding a raise of wages and enhancing of their working conditions in Edinburgh, Scotland on January 27
Schools struggle to plan for strike as unions tell members to keep their head teachers in the dark: READ MORE
Teachers gather to demonstrate as they continue their strike demanding a raise of wages and enhancing of their working conditions in Edinburgh, Scotland on January 27
Bridgend Council, in a statement obtained by MailOnline, said officials are ‘hoping to make suitable provisions for all pupils and their parents’ and are trying to ‘minimise any potential disruption resulting from the strike action.’
‘Please be reassured that the decision to close schools will not been taken lightly,’ Councillor Jon-Paul Blundell, Cabinet Member for Education, said.
‘It will involve a risk assessment considering many factors including staff population, supervision, pupil – teacher ratios, as well as safeguarding.
‘As always, the priority in the decision-making process will be the welfare of the children at the schools. They are, and always will be, our primary concern.’
MailOnline has also approached Bro Ogwr School for comment.
Similarly, school headmasters have explained that planning ahead for tomorrow’s strikes is ‘tricky’ because NEU members are not required to alert school leadership about their participation beforehand.
Head teacher Pepe DiIasio, who made the ‘difficult’ decision to close Wales High School in Rotherham tomorrow, told BBC that 30 staff already informed him they would be striking.
He estimates at least 50 will partake in the walkouts.
He noted that students have ‘missed an awful lot’ of classroom instruction since the first lockdown in 2020 and that officials ‘don’t want them to miss any more.’
However, he noted the benefit of the pandemic is that school are now ‘fully prepared for this sort of situation.’
‘What we can do is move into a remote curriculum virtually straight away,’ he said, noting that Wales High School will follow their normal class timetables from home.
The school’s library will also serve as a ‘temporary classroom’ for students who need to come into the building.
School leaders are hoping that tomorrow will teach lessons to help officials and families prepare for further NEU strikes planned in February and March.
The Department for Education (DfE), which is said to have engaged in talks with teaching unions over pay, has advised that schools remain open tomorrow for ‘as many pupils as possible’
Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney (pictured yesterday), joint NEU general secretaries, said: ‘The Government has been unwilling to seriously engage with the causes of strike action’
The Department for Education (DfE), which is said to have engaged in talks with teaching unions over pay, has advised that schools remain open tomorrow for ‘as many pupils as possible’.
The DfE has offered a 5 per cent pay rise to most teachers for the current school year, but the NEU is demanding a fully funded above-inflation pay rise for teachers.
Teacher members of the NEU in sixth form colleges in England, who have already been balloted and taken strike action in recent months, will join the walkouts in a separate but linked dispute.
School leaders in the NAHT Cymru union will also hold industrial action short of a strike – which includes abstaining from arranging cover for those taking part in any industrial action – from February 1.
NEU leaders have accused Church of England of Education Secretary Gillian Keegan (pictured on Friday) of having ‘squandered an opportunity to avoid strike action’ tomorrow
Tomorrow teacher members of the EIS union – Scotland’s biggest teaching union – will take action in Clackmannanshire and Aberdeen as part of an ongoing dispute over pay.
Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, joint NEU general secretaries, said: ‘Gillian Keegan has squandered an opportunity to avoid strike action on Wednesday.
‘The Government has been unwilling to seriously engage with the causes of strike action.
‘Real-terms pay cuts and cuts in pay relativities are leading to a recruitment and retention crisis with which the Education Secretary so far seems incapable of getting a grip.
‘Training targets are routinely missed, year on year. This is having consequences for learning, with disruption every day to children’s education.’
Speaking outside the DfE following a meeting with Ms Keegan that lasted more than an hour, Mr Courtney said: ‘I regret to say that we didn’t hear anything that enables us to say that the strike shouldn’t go ahead on Wednesday.
‘There’s no offer from the Secretary of State trying to bridge the gap between us.’
Ms Keegan said it was ‘hugely disappointing’ that the NEU would proceed with strike action in England and Wales on Wednesday.
‘These strikes will have a significant impact on children’s education, especially following the disruption of the past two years, and are creating huge uncertainly for parents,’ she said.
‘With talks ongoing on a range of issues, including around future pay, workload, behaviour and recruitment and retention, it is clear that strikes are not being used as a last resort.’
DfE guidance suggests agency staff and volunteers could be used to cover classes on strike days, with schools expected to remain open where possible
Members of the EIS and SSTA unions take strike action in a dispute over pay on January 11
Members of the EIS demonstrate outside Bute House in Edinburgh as teachers from secondary schools around Scotland are shut on January 11
Ms Keegan added: ‘I have been clear today that unions do not need to strike to meet with me. I also reiterated my call to union leaders to ask their members to let head teachers know if they intend to strike, helping schools to minimise the impact on children.
‘I will continue doing everything possible to protect children’s education.’
Mr Courtney said talks with the DfE yesterday revealed a ‘hint’ that the Government might come back with ‘something that was more like an offer’ for teachers to avoid further planned strikes after Wednesday.
He said: ‘There certainly is time between February 1 and February 28 to find something that will enable us to call off the strikes on February 28 and later dates in March.
‘The question on whether they are prepared to move on it is something that we’re going to have to test out in practice.
‘There was just a hint at the end of the discussions today that they might come back with something that was more like an offer … and so we’re hoping for further meetings, and we’re hoping for serious engagement because the issues we’re raising with them are very pertinent and very real.’
Dr Bousted explained last week that she is expecting more than 100,000 teachers to strike on tomorrow, with ‘lots of schools’ closing their doors.
Following the meeting with Ms Keegan, Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), said: ‘Parents will have been looking for the Government to avert the planned strike on Wednesday.
‘Instead, the Government continues to talk around the issues rather than putting anything on the table which allows for any meaningful negotiation.
‘It is deeply disappointing.’
Following yesterday’s meeting, Paul Whiteman, (left) general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: ‘It was good of the Secretary of State to make time to meet with us today. However, the meeting was unproductive.’ He is pictured yesterday with Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School & College Leaders
DfE guidance suggests agency staff and volunteers could be used to cover classes on strike days, with schools expected to remain open where possible.
In a letter sent by Ms Keegan to union general secretaries on Friday, the Education Secretary asked teachers to inform schools if they plan to strike to help avoid ‘unnecessary disruption’.
The NEU is required by law to provide schools with the number of members that it is calling on to take strike action in each workplace, but the union does not have to provide the names of members.
Following the meeting yesterday, Paul Whiteman, general secretary of school leaders’ union NAHT, said: ‘It was good of the Secretary of State to make time to meet with us today. However, the meeting was unproductive.
‘This was unsurprising as the Secretary of State was unable to make any offer on the eve of industrial action.
‘That being said, there is an agreement that further talks will take place and we continue to hope a resolution can be found.’
Teachers are joining train drivers, civil servants, university lecturers, bus drivers and security guards from seven trade unions who will walk out tomorrow in disputes over pay, jobs and conditions.
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