Yorkshire Coast schools strike action 'personal decision' for teachers
Industrial action by members of the National Education Union will go ahead tomorrow
Schools in Scarborough affected by strike action “will have their own individual arrangements in place”.
Industrial action by members of the National Education Union will go ahead on Wednesday February 1 as last-ditch talks between the Government and unions ended without adequate progress.
The strike action will impact more than 23,000 schools in England and Wales with three more strike days affecting North Yorkshire set for February 28, March 15 and March 16.
North Yorkshire County Council has said that it will support schools with “general guidance of mitigating the impact on pupils” but added that individual schools will coordinate the impact of strike action.
The National Education Union (NEU) is in a dispute with the Government over pay and has called for a “fully-funded, above inflation pay rise”.
Of NEU members in England, more than 90 per cent of teachers voted in favour of strike action in a ballot that had a 53.2 per cent turnout.
Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, North Yorkshire County Council’s assistant director for education and skills, Amanda Newbold said: “Schools will have their own individual arrangements in place in response to the strike and parents should contact their school if unsure.
“Information about school staff’s union membership is not retained by North Yorkshire County Council, or schools, in line with national rules on data governance, but the National Education Union has provided schools and the local authority with membership numbers.
The assistant director added: “It is a personal decision for those members whether they participate in the strike action.
“Individual schools will coordinate the impact of any strike action, but we will support them with general guidance on mitigating the impact on pupils where possible. Headteachers have been provided with recent guidance from the Department for Education in managing the strike action.”
Earlier this month Downing Street urged teachers not to strike and inflict “substantial damage” to children’s education, while on Monday the education secretary said it was “hugely disappointing” that industrial action was going ahead.
However, the NEU has said that due to the rising rate of inflation, the Government’s offer of a five per cent pay increase this year “is a seven per cent cut”.
Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, joint general secretaries of the NEU, said: “The government must know there is going to have to be a correction on teacher pay. They must realise that school support staff need a pay rise.
“If they do not, then the consequences are clear for parents and children. The lack of dedicated maths teachers, for example, means that 1 in 8 pupils are having work set and assessed by people who are not qualified in the teaching of maths.”