As teachers walked out of their classrooms and on to picket lines across Wales, the strength of feeling was clear. The action by teachers saw hundreds of schools shut as many went on strike for the first time.
They were pushed, they said, not just by low pay awards, but corrosive underfunding over many years causing what they described as “a crisis” in schools. Asked whether it was fair on children to be out of classes again after years of Covid disruption, they said they were "striking to save education". You can read more about what strikes looked like across Wales here
Years of underfunding mean pupils are not getting the education they deserve, said teachers as they walked out. A recruitment and retainment "crisis" caused by low pay awards and school funding cuts meant classes are bigger, staff are teaching subjects they are not qualified for and it was time to make a stand.
Read more: How Welsh teachers' pay and hours compare with other nations
In the words of one high school teacher from Pontypool: “This is not just a problem for school staff - it’s everyone’s problem”.
The NEU teaching union, whose members voted to strike, said one in three schools in Wales was affected by the strike - either shut or partially shut. The union had dubbed the Welsh Government’s below inflation 5% pay offer an “insult” . Last ditch talks and an unspecified one-off payment offer failed to avert today's action and further strike days are planned for February 14, March 15 and March 16.
Teachers said what pay awards there have been in recent years, did not match inflation and were not fully funded by the Welsh Government. This left schools having to shoulder some of the cost of the pay rises with ever decreasing budgets - which in turn led to job cuts.
Sophie Skellorn, who teaches at Undy Primary in Newport, summed up the feeling of many when she said striking was the last resort after years of trying to negotiate better funding for children’s education and staff pay.
“I have never been on strike before. People don’t have any idea how bad things are in schools. We need change,” she said. “It’s less about pay and more about conditions that are now affecting children’s education.”
Some on picket lines held up signs declaring: “You can’t put children first if you out their teachers last” and slogans to that effect. Sophie Toovey, who teaches English at a secondary in Pontypool said things were so bad that schools don’t have qualified teachers for core exam subjects with many teachers changing professions.
‘I’m striking because I care about the future of education. For too long, schools have been forced to make cuts which have really impacted on their provision.
“It feels like the most vulnerable pupils will be the ones who suffer the most if mainstream education cannot provide what they need. The government needs to support the teaching profession, and increasing pay in line with inflation is an obvious way to tackle the recruitment and retention crisis.
“Our future generation of doctors are sitting in our classrooms, and some of them don’t have a qualified Science teacher. This is not just a problem for school staff; it’s everyone’s problem.”
Joanne Pearson, head of sixth form at Archbishop McGrath Catholic High in Bridgend admitted: “Every fibre of your being says don’t be out on strike and be there fulfilling your vocation for the children.” But she said schools could not provide what they should and “we are striking for our students”.
Her colleague Richard Jones, head of science, said the school had been unable to fill a physics teacher post despite advertising three times. They had received one or two applications from people not qualified for the job.
Senior Wales officer for the NEU, Gareth Lloyd, joining strikers at Clwyd Community School in Swansea, said he knew of cases where PE teachers are taking maths classes. Unqualified cover staff are also taking classes because of the teacher shortage.
Then there is the pressure of the teaching. Jack Desambrois, Cardiff High English teacher, loves his career but now works an average 55 to 60-hour week. His colleague, biology teacher Rodney Davies, who has been in the profession 33 years, is turning the heating off at home, sitting under blankets and coats because of rising fuel and other prices.
While Rodney can look back on a long career, teaching unions estimate around 20% of newly qualified teachers leave the profession for other jobs within the first five years, citing low pay, workload and stress. Many of the best graduates simply don't consider going into teaching because of the relatively low pay.
Archbishop McGrath High maths teacher Karen Mordecai, who qualified six years ago, said she could consider changing to another profession because of the rising cost of living and pay awards that don’t match it: “You think of teaching as being a respected profession where you should have a good standard of living, but that is becoming less and less the case.
“I would consider going to another profession if the pay doesn’t get better. It’s not an attractive profession to people right now.”
Special needs teacher Liz McLean from Denbighshire, has been in the profession more than 30 years and says she has seen how things have got worse in recent years: "I am striking because there is no other option. Classrooms are becoming under staffed, leading to bigger classes, leaving our most vulnerable additional learning needs pupils at risk of not being able to access the curriculum.
“There is also a lack of specialist teachers for GCSE subjects We are striking for a living wage, but also the future of education.”
Clwyd Community Primary school teacher Ben Wolsey said he would rather be in the classroom than on the picket line. But things had reached a point where a stand must be made.
“We can’t retain specialist teachers, which is having a knock on effect. It’s for the children we are here.
“My children are going to comprehensive soon and I’d hate to think of a non specialist teaching them and their education suffering as a result.”
David Evans, Wales Secretary of the National Education Union Cymru, said: "Today, teachers and support staff in Wales' schools, took strike action in pursuit of a fully- funded, above inflation pay rise. They have been short-changed for over a decade, with significant real-terms cuts to pay and unfunded rises which schools cannot afford to find from their own budgets.
"The legacy is all too clear, with schools having to cut services to the bone as years of Westminster austerity hit hard, and a recruitment and retention crisis that is a detriment to children's education every single day. One day's disruption through strike action is dwarfed by the long-term damage caused by policy on education funding, on workload, and on pay."
Speaking about the strikes to BBC Radio Wales Education Minister Jeremy Miles said: "I want to reassure pupils and their parents that we are working with our partners to resolve the dispute. We have held a number of constructive meetings with unions and local education authorities already and there are further meetings happening this week in an effort to resolve the dispute.
"We don’t want to see schools closed so we are doing absolutely everything we can to resolve the dispute."
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- Covid pandemic 'negatively affected' progress of 'most pupils' in Wales, says Welsh education chief
