Teachers across England are set to stage further walkouts after the rejecting the Government's latest pay offer.
Almost 200,000 members of the National Education Union (NEU) voted to reject the offer by an overwhelming 98%, with the union saying it would "do nothing" to tackle the issues of recruitment and retention in schools. The NEU added that the offer would have seen teachers in England "fall even further behind" staff in Scotland and Wales in terms of pay.
The NEU has confirmed that it now plans to take two more days of strike action on April 27 and May 2, but added that the industrial action can still be avoided if education secretary Gillian Keegan offers a "much better proposal". It follows a period of "intensive talks" held between the Government and teaching unions last month following walkouts in February and March.
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Dr Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, Joint General Secretaries of the National Education, said of the vote result: "This resounding rejection of the Government's offer should leave Gillian Keegan in no doubt that she will need to come back to the negotiating table with a much better proposal. The offer shows an astounding lack of judgement and understanding of the desperate situation in the education system.
"We have today written to the education secretary informing her of the next two days of strike action on April 27 and May 2 that NEU teacher members in England will now be taking. These strikes are more than three weeks away; Gillian Keegan can avoid them."
The union bosses added: "No teacher wants to be on strike. Nor can they accept this offer that does nothing to address the decades of below inflation pay increases making them the worst paid teachers in the UK. The offer will do nothing to stem the teacher recruitment and retention crisis which is so damaging to our children and young people's education."
The NEU told parents that it has "no wish" to disrupt students' education, emphasising that the action is aimed at "getting the Government to invest in the education of this generation of children and the people who teach them". It added that school reps will be planning with head teachers to ensure year 11 and year 13 students have a "full programme of education" on strike days ahead of exams this summer.
"The education secretary has united the profession in its outrage at this insulting pay offer," the union chiefs said. "It is now for her to rectify that situation by starting to value education.
"The NEU is ready as we have stated all along to negotiate with ministers, but this time we hope a lesson has been learnt. Gillian Keegan needs to start negotiations with respect for the profession she is supposedly representing in Government."
The Government's pay offer saw teachers offered a one-off payment of £1,000 for the current academic year, on top of the average pay rise of 5.4% which teachers received in September 2022 and an average pay rise of 4.5% in 2023-2024, the Department for Education said. The proposed deal also saw the starting salary for new teachers rise 7.1% to £30,000, as well as "reforms to teachers' workload and conditions".
The Department said: "It is deeply irresponsible that children’s education is disrupted because of trade disputes. With GCSE and A level exam periods approaching, students and their parents should not have to worry about potential strike disruption."
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