Northamptonshire: Teachers' strike not just about pay - union

Teachers taking part in a one-day strike have said the dispute with the government is "not just about pay".

The one-day strike across England and Wales is the first of seven scheduled days of industrial action organised by the National Education Union (NEU).

Figures for the numbers of school closures in Northamptonshire were not yet available from local councils.

Simon Rielly, who represents the union in the county, said: "It's about the bigger picture."

The numbers of schools either closed or partially open were not available as schools are not obliged to inform local education authorities about a closure and many schools are academies which do not come under council control.

The union has said it expects about 23,000 schools to be affected by the walk-out.

The Department for Education (DfE) has said it expects head teachers to take all reasonable steps to keep schools open for as many pupils as possible.

Speaking at a rally outside The Cube in Corby, where about 50 teachers had gathered, Mr Rielly said: "I think if we look at the last 12 years in education, the disruption in children's education for a variety of different reasons has been absolutely shocking.

"This is what today is all about, it's not just about pay, it's about the culture and ethos in schools, it's about the changing of the curriculum model... it's about the bigger picture."

Dahira Abkey, a teacher on a picket line outside Malcolm Arnold Academy in Northampton, said she usually starts work just before 08:00 and sometimes does not leave until 18:30.

"There is so much to do; you cannot leave the job half done because you have to be able to teach the next day," she said.

"The hours are very, very long, not because we are demanded [to do] it; we have to do it because those are our professional standards and we have to be able to teach what we need to teach in the right way.

"I think the government needs to prioritise what needs to be done within the communities that run our community.

"To mistreat teachers and nurses and firefighters, to not understand the fact that we are on the same pay scale and the [cost] of living has gone up dramatically... it's just not working, something needs to be done."

Geography teacher at Malcolm Arnold Academy, Rob Jones, said while they were demanding a 10-12% pay increase, the government "not only needs to be focussing on the wages we are paid, but also being able to employ and recruit and retain teachers in the first place, because there aren't enough teachers for the positions that are available in schools".

"Our school is just one example of where there aren't enough teachers, enough capacity within the school to deliver the whole curriculum and offer the same experience to every single student."

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan defended the government's record on school funding and told BBC Breakfast it "makes no sense to give inflation-busting pay rises to some of the workforce" at a time when prices were rising for everyone.

She added that she had held five meetings with union leaders in recent weeks.

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