‘12,000 schools’ hit by strikes

Tens of thousands of children in England and Wales will miss out on classes

Tens of thousands of pupils across England and Wales are missing lessons as teachers stage a one-day strike over changes to their pensions.

It is expected that about 14,000 state schools will be affected, with half closed and half partially affected.

Action is being taken by members of the National Union of Teachers and the Association of Teachers and Lecturers.

Education Secretary Michael Gove has criticised the strikes, saying they will hit working families hard.

Teachers say government-planned changes to the Teacher Pension Scheme (TPS) will mean they will have to work longer, pay more and get less when they retire.

Mr Gove has described the strikes as regrettable, unnecessary and premature.

The impact of the strike on individual schools is varied, depending on how many teachers belong to the ATL and NUT.

Around 220,000 members of the NUT and 80,000 members of the ATL (including 18,000 members in the independent sector) in England and Wales are eligible to strike.

In some parts of the country the majority of schools will face disruption. For example, in Oldham, Greater Manchester, 60 out of a total of 105 schools were expected to be closed and 24 partially closed.

In the London Borough of Brent, 64 out of 78 schools were due to be either closed or partially closed.

Other areas fare better. In Slough, 10 out of 39 schools were expected to be shut and six are partially shut, and in East Sussex 74 of 192 schools were due to be closed.

The strike action is also affecting schools in the independent sector. Some 18,000 of its teachers are members of the ATL, of whom more than 4,000 voted in favour of striking in the union’s ballot.

The union fears that the government plans to exclude independent school staff from the pension scheme – which it says would affect 60,000 teachers.

David Levin, headmaster of the City of London Boys’ School, said a handful of his staff would be on strike and lessons affected would be covered by senior management.

Mr Levin said teachers who were taking action were doing so in sorrow rather than in anger.

“They think it’s a matter of conscience. They are very reluctant and, with great regret, are exercising their conscience.”

Mr Levin, who also chairs the Headmasters’ and Headmistresses’ Conference, said he knew of a number of independent schools that would be affected by the strike.

Classes were being covered with special sessions, such as presentations by governors about their careers.

All were determined to stay open, he added.

It remained unclear what action ATL members at elite private school Eton College planned to take.

The school said in statement: “Members of ATL at Eton met over the weekend and have taken the view that they wish to minimise disruption, but to take the pensions issue forward by other means.”

Mr Gove has repeatedly criticised the striking teachers, saying working families – particularly working women – would be hard-hit.

But Mary Bousted, general secretary of the ATL, said: “We regret any inconvenience caused to parents, but a one-day strike will have significantly less impact on children’s education than the damage done by making education an unattractive career.

“If the government’s changes go ahead we risk losing the best graduates to teaching, losing great teachers, lecturers and heads, and causing a recruitment crisis finding school and college heads.”

The industrial action means working families have had to arrange and pay for emergency childcare.

Craig Jones, operations director for Fit for Life, which runs clubs and children’s camps in England, said the company had laid on an extra day of activities at four locations in London, and places were filling up fast.

“I’m a parent and it’s all a bit of a headache. But from a business point of view, it’s an opportunity to provide extra services to parents and children.”

In addition, lecturers at further-education colleges and universities founded after 1992 – also members of the Teachers’ Pension Scheme – are planning walk-outs.

The University and College Union says it expects 350 colleges and 75 universities to be affected.

Its president, Sally Hunt, is to attack Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg for describing public sector pensions as “gold-plated”.

“The average pension of a female college lecturer is just £6,000 a year,” she is to tell strikers at a rally in central London.

“This is a government that has already presided over an increase in the income of the richest 1,000 people by 18%. How dare they call us gold-plated?”

Other public-sector workers are also staging strikes over pension changes on Thursday.

Courts and probation services could be disrupted, policing could be affected and prison officers are expected to protest.

Customs and passports services could be affected and driving tests may be cancelled.

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