Teachers will be striking on the Isle of Wight today (2nd March), calling for the Government to provide for a fully-funded, above inflation pay rise.
A recent poll shows that 60 per cent of parents/guardians and 48 per cent of Britons support teachers taking strike action, and share concerns about the lack of education funding.
Shreeve: Three in five parents worried their child is receiving poor quality education
Peter Shreeve, Assistant District Secretary of the National Education Union, said:
“Schools do their very best to plug the gaps in all things – staff subject expertise and their availability as well as school resources. As a result, pupils and parents are not always fully aware of the challenges schools face.
“However, the Ipsos poll shows three in five parents are worried that their child is receiving poor quality education, because of a lack of funding in schools.
“This confirms the results of a recent Parentkind poll conducted immediately before the 1st February action.”
A demonstration will be held in St Thomas’s Square today (Thursday) between 10.30am and 1pm, with speeches at 11am.
Elsom: Parents trust teachers only make decision to strike as a last resort
At the time, Parentkind CEO Jason Elsom said,
“Our polling shows even in the face of industrial action, the majority of parents supported teacher strikes, despite the disruption and inconvenience they cause.
“The feedback we’ve received indicates parents are aware of the impact shortages of teachers is having on their children’s education and trust that teachers only make the decision to strike as a last resort.”
Shreeve: Higher costs have left schools struggling
Mr Shreeve continued,
“While no teacher wants to be on strike action, we are grateful for parental support. We understand why parents may be concerned over any missed school work and its impact on their progress. However, many understand first-hand, the issues faced by schools and their children’s teachers.
“In recent years, many children have needed additional increased support, but higher costs have left schools struggling to provide that support. Thus, parents recognise the impact of normal every day disruption directly caused by the Government’s poor decision-making and short-sighted and long-term education policies.
“We urge Gillian Keegan to start negotiating with the profession to ensure we have a resolution for the sake of our children’s education. Continued stonewalling of talks is unhelpful to parents, the general public or those working in education. We need to see a substantive offer that will address the issues which are eroding this essential public service.”
Article edit
2.25pm 2nd Mar 2023 – ‘Helpful’ corrected to ‘unhelpful’ in last para.
