Schools strike: Bolton teachers say they feel parents support action

It is the first national strike for teachers in England and Wales since 2016

Teachers taking part in industrial action have said they felt "forced" to strike and parents supported them.

As many as 23,000 schools are thought to have been affected by a strike across England and Wales, the National Education Union (NEU) said, although the extent of disruption has varied.

Teacher and NEU representative Robert Poole said he felt like "public opinion seems to be on our side".

The education secretary has defended the government's funding of schools.

Speaking on BBC Breakfast, Gillian Keegan said it made "no sense to give inflation-busting pay rises to some of the workforce" at a time when prices were rising for everyone.

Most state school teachers in England and Wales had a 5% pay rise in 2022, but unions have said that amounted to a pay cut because inflation was more than 10%.

Mr Poole said he hoped negotiations could avert further strikes

Speaking on the picket line at Sharples High School in Bolton, Mr Poole said the action was not "just about pay, it's about the future of education".

"The government is missing its recruitment targets, a third of teachers leave within five years... something's going wrong," he said.

He said some teachers were "doing two or three jobs" and the profession was "not sustainable any more".

"If we don't strike, we're going to see further degradation of the education system and it's only going to be worse in the long-run," he added.

Colleague Amy Heaton said parents "appreciate how hard we are working to improve outcomes for their children".

She said every parent "who has gone past us today, bar one, has waved and honked their horn or stopped and had a chat and said thank you, so... I do think we have the support of the parents".

Ms Keegan said it made "no sense to give inflation-busting pay rises to some of the workforce"

She said she had been a teacher for 18 years and had joined the action because low pay was forcing teaching assistants out of the job.

"There's a misconception we're here because of our own pay," she said.

"I'm personally here because we're struggling to recruit teaching assistants.

"Many are are leaving because they can make more money working in the Amazon factory or in Asda stacking shelves.

"These are skilled staff and we need them in the classrooms".

She said it was "just becoming too hard to come into work every day and see the system fail the children and staff".

The strikes is the first of seven scheduled days of industrial action organised by the NEU following a vote by members.

Mr Poole said he hoped the future strikes would be averted and a deal would be struck between the government and the union, but if not, those taking part would be "here for the long run".

The day has also seen other workers walk out in disputes over pay, including university staff, civil servants and train and bus drivers.