Teaching strikes: Some Northern Ireland schools reopen

Some schools in Northern Ireland have reopened after strikes took place on Wednesday morning.

Teachers from five unions took part in the half-day industrial action, mainly due to a long-running dispute over pay.

Teachers in Northern Ireland have not had a pay increase for nearly three years.

Many teachers in England, Scotland and Wales now earn thousands of pounds more than their counterparts in Northern Ireland at the same grade.

On Wednesday, the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT) joined four unions on strike for the second time this year having not previously taken industrial action in its 126-year history.

The half-day strike will be followed by a further four days of industrial action after Christmas.

Rebekah Mitchell, a geography teacher in Londonderry's Lisneal College, joined the profession five years ago because of her passion for the job.

Now, the 27-year-old joined the picket line determined to secure a better deal for her and her colleagues.

"For me this is about equality," she told BBC News NI.

"We need proper pay and conditions and parity of esteem with colleagues throughout the UK.

"At the moment I pay for things for the classroom for the children as I don't want them missing out."

For Ms Mitchell, the cost of living is also proving to be a challenge.

"I've a mortgage and lots of outgoings and we all know about the rise in energy costs and fuel and food," she added.

"It's really tough and I can understand why others are either not going into teaching and, if they are, they are heading off to England and Scotland."

Dr Graham Gault, of NAHT in Northern Ireland, told the BBC's Good Morning Ulster programme that "all the scaffolding around schools to support children has been taken away".

"The fact we have had three years of pay paralysis in Northern Ireland... has been the final straw," he said.

"Undergraduates here can very easily head south or head east for significantly more pay for exactly the same job. And with a job with much better support system.

"We believe that the teaching profession is being used as leverage in a wider political game, which is very distasteful."

Teachers are represented by the Northern Ireland Teachers Council (NITC), which includes five unions - the NASUWT, Irish National Teachers' Organisation (INTO), Ulster Teachers' Union (UTU), National Education Union (NEU) and NAHT.

Members of NASUWT in further education colleges also took part in the strike.

The pay dispute has been going on for 18 months.

In February 2022, unions rejected a pay offer from employers for the years 2021-2023, describing it as "inadequate".

NASUWT national official Justin McCamphill said members of the union have "had enough".

"A Northern Ireland teacher is not worth less than an English or Scottish teacher," he added.

Mr McCamphill called on the Department of Education and the Department for the Economy to put forward a "substantially improved pay offer" to end the dispute.

NAHT representatives delivered a letter, signed by school leaders from across Northern Ireland, to the prime minister in Downing Street.

Holywood Nursery School principal Clare Majury is among the group in London and said taking strike action was "the last thing" she wanted to do.

She said: "Our system is crumbling. It makes it increasingly difficult to staff our schools."

Mark McTaggart, of INTO, said that the "formula for finding the education budget needs to be looked at".

He added: "We have young teachers coming out of college having spent four or five years getting their degree and with debts of £40,000.

"They're coming into schools where they're being paid £24,000. It's very easy for a teacher to go: 'I can go across on a ferry to England or Scotland or cross to the Republic of Ireland by road and get significantly more money.'"

A spokesperson for the Education Authority (EA) said: "Teachers' Negotiating Committee (TNC) Management side have considered the potential implications of this action and guidance was issued to support schools to manage the impact on children and young people.

"We fully understand that this is a difficult and challenging time for schools, parents/carers and children and young people and will make every effort to minimise disruption."

A Department of Education spokesperson said it "fully understands the frustration of teachers and school leaders over the ongoing absence of a pay offer".

"It is regrettable that the department has been unable to offer teachers a pay award for the past three years similar to other jurisdictions, but it is simply unaffordable within an inadequate education budget."

Ordinarily 600 girls would have been making their way into St Mary's High School in Newry on Wednesday morning, but there were no students to be seen and teachers were standing at the gates.

Among them was Brendan Morgan, who is also the secretary of NASUWT NI.

"It's not just the teachers' pay. It is the whole education system in Northern Ireland which has been suffering.

"Principals are finding it tough to make ends meet and we are doing a harder job for less money," he said.

Joanne Grant is the union rep for INTO in the school. She said that the current situation is especially noticeable in Newry, where teachers see colleagues just a few miles away in County Louth earning more.

"Our counterparts just a couple of miles away are better paid and better thought of. People really are now at breaking point."

Patrick McIlroy, a teacher at Holy Trinity Primary School in Enniskillen said he hoped the industrial action wouldn't stretch into the long term, "but if that's the way it works out that's the way it works out," he added.

He told BBC News Nl: "It's obvious that the parents in particular and the local community really, really support us which is what we're looking for. It's not a morning off by any means for us. We do not want to be doing this."

Further disruption is expected on Friday as some school support staff are due to stage a 24-hour strike over low pay.

That action is being taken by members of the Unite union which represents workers in school bus transport, catering, admin, cleaning and classroom assistants.

The Education Authority (EA) said it was expecting significant disruption to "school transport in particular, as well as disruption to some school meals and cleaning services".

"The strike action will also have an impact on the availability of Classroom Assistants which will affect Special Schools in particular," a spokesperson added.

"We will make every effort to keep parents, children and young people informed."

There is also a strike by Translink workers on Friday, meaning it is likely there will be no bus or train services that day.