Teacher strikes show no sign of abating after more than half of schools closed or restricted attendance again this week, with the prospect of coordinated action in the autumn.
But fears that parents would keep their children out of school last Friday to take advantage of the strike dates and bank holiday to create a six-day holiday appear to have been overblown.
In an escalation of the bitter dispute over teacher pay and school funding, leaders of all four teaching and leadership unions held an unprecedented joint press conference to announce their intention to coordinate action if they win ballots due to be held this term.
But the government this week continued to refuse to hold fresh pay talks, describing threats of coordinated action as “unreasonable and disproportionate”.
The National Education Union has now held eight days of action in England. It is due to call three more once exams are over, and will shortly re-ballot members for a fresh six-month mandate from July.
The NASUWT teaching union and NAHT school leaders’ union will also re-ballot members after missing the turnout thresholds last time. The NAHT has widened its dispute to include staff wellbeing and inspection.
The leaders’ union ASCL will also ballot its members for the first time in its history.
It comes after all four unions voted to reject ministers’ offer of a £1,000 one-off payment for this year and 4.3 per cent pay rise for 2023-24.
At the NAHT’s annual conference in Telford last weekend, the four union heads predicted unprecedented disruption in the autumn if their ballots are successful.
‘Unprecedented show of solidarity’
Kevin Courtney, the NEU’s joint general secretary, said every state school in England was affected by the dispute. “Acting together…we will all pass the government’s undemocratic thresholds.”
Paul Whiteman, the NAHT’s leader, added: “This is an unprecedented show of solidarity from the education unions. It sends a clear signal to government that our dispute is not going away.”
A spokesperson for the Department of Education said: “For unions to coordinate strike action with the aim of causing maximum disruption to schools is unreasonable and disproportionate, especially given the impact the pandemic has already had on learning.
“We have made a fair and reasonable pay offer … which recognises teachers’ hard work and commitment.”
The government claims its pay offer is “fully funded”. It pledged £620 million of extra funding for the deal, but said the rest was “affordable” from within school budgets once already-planned increases of £2 billion this year and next are factored-in.
But the Institute for Fiscal Studies said this week that the offer of higher salaries was “only part-funded”.
And while it predicted it was “still, on average, affordable for schools”, it acknowledged there would be “many schools receiving lower than average funding increases”.
Half of schools close or restrict attendance
Government data shows 52 per cent of schools either closed or restricted attendance during last Thursday’s strike, rising to 55 per cent on Tuesday. About 5 per cent closed fully on both days.
Closures have remained consistent since strikes began in early February. The only strike day when partial or full closures dipped below 50 per cent was on March 1, when strikes were called in the east Midlands, West Midlands and east of England.
As during previous strikes, secondary schools were more likely to be affected. London had the highest rate of closures, while the east Midlands had the least.
The strikes on Thursday and Tuesday, coupled with Monday’s bank holiday, had prompted fears parents would keep children off school for a six-day weekend.
But attendance data from FFT Education Datalab and management information system operator Arbor suggests about 6.5 per cent of primary pupils and 11.5 per cent of secondary pupils were absent on Friday.
Across the autumn term last year, primary absence on a Friday was 7.2 per cent while secondary ranged from 10.4 to 10.6 per cent, depending on the time of day.
Courtney said the action was a matter of “regret” and that Gillian Keegan, the education secretary, “needs to come forward with a better pay and funding offer if she is to avert further strikes”.
“As it stands, she has taken her ball home with her and refuses to engage. This is irresponsible in the extreme.”
* Unions this week began their legal action against the government’s law change last year which allows agency staff to cover for striking workers. A result is expected in the coming weeks.
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