Commenting on a meeting between Gillian Keegan, the Education Secretary, and the teacher unions, at the Department for Education today, Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretary of the National Education Union, said:
"Gillian Keegan has squandered an opportunity to avoid strike action on Wednesday. The Government has been unwilling to seriously engage with the causes of strike action. Real-terms pay cuts and cuts in pay relativities are leading to a recruitment and retention crisis with which the education secretary so far seems incapable of getting a grip. Training targets are routinely missed, year on year. This is having consequences for learning, with disruption every day to children's education."
"We can do better as a nation, for education, for our children, if we invest more. That is in the gift of this government. It should start with a fully-funded, above inflation pay rise for teachers."