Teachers strike: Second day of disruption as National Education Union walks out in England

Schools crossed England are facing different time of disruption arsenic teachers locomotion retired for the 2nd clip this week.

The national is balloting for further onslaught enactment successful the autumn successful the lawsuit a wage emergence isn't agreed with the authorities implicit the summer,

Many schools are expected to afloat oregon partially adjacent today.

Teaching unions person already rejected the government's connection of a 4.5% wage emergence for adjacent twelvemonth and an contiguous £1,000 one-off payment.

The autarkic School Teachers' Review Body has considered the contented and it is being looked astatine by the government.

That assemblage has reportedly recommended a 6.5% emergence for teachers, and acquisition unions person accused the authorities of sitting connected the report.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4's Today programme, the NEU's associated wide general caput Dr Mary Bousted called the reported connection "credible", saying it would beryllium the "biggest grant announced by a wage reappraisal body" and "deserved for teachers".

She continued: "I deliberation members would judge 6.5% with 1 large addition, which is that it would beryllium funded.

"Schools don't person the wealth to wage teachers 6.5%. We cipher determination would request to beryllium 3% connected mean [extra] backing for schools successful bid to bash that."

Asked if she feared the authorities could overrule the wage reappraisal body, Dr Bousted said: "Unfortunately I deliberation that's wholly possible. We anticipation that that's not the case."

She added that autumn onslaught enactment would beryllium called disconnected if the 6.5% emergence is agreed with the acquisition department, saying it is "in the government's hands".

While Friday marks the seventh nationalist strike, it is the eighth time of important disruption for England's schools due to the fact that of erstwhile enactment astatine determination level.

Education curate Robert Halfon told BBC Breakfast helium couldn't corroborate the reported 6.5% recommendation, and said helium hadn't seen the last report.

He added that it would beryllium "published successful owed course... and the authorities volition marque a decision", adding: "We've got to beryllium arsenic just arsenic imaginable to teachers and enactment staff... but we besides person to beryllium just to the taxpayer."

He said the authorities would person a "very hard choice", saying decisions astir teachers' wage should beryllium balanced against the information the authorities has "got to walk billions of pounds helping radical with the outgo of living".

A spokesperson for the Department for Education said teachers had already received a "fair and reasonable" wage offer, adding that Friday's onslaught would spot the "cancellation of extremity of word events and important modulation days to secondary schools".

On pay, they said: "As portion of the mean process, the autarkic School Teachers' Review Body has submitted its recommendations to authorities connected teacher wage for 2023/24.

"We volition beryllium considering the recommendations and volition people our effect successful the accustomed way."