Bio
Teachers are, of course, remainder theorem aware of the effect of the action on children and their education. To minimise disruption, no school will be closed for more than four days in England, but longstanding issues in the profession have now reached a critical point.
Gillian Keegan is the fifth secretary of state for education in the last 12 months. In recent days she has made it clear that she is talking to the teachers’ representatives, but she continues to face significant challenges in ensuring that the education system is meeting pupils’ needs.
Pay and workload
A headline issue for the strikes is pay. Despite pay rises for teachers in the 2022-23 academic year, these do not meet the current rate of inflation. But pay is only one of the problems for the school sector.
Continuing challenges in recruitment and retention are particularly important. In their first two years after qualifying, 17% of teachers leave the profession. And the government is unable to recruit enough new teachers to replace them.