Half of schools could be shut next week as millions at 12,000 state schools ... trends now
Millions of children face being turned away from class during teacher strike action next week.
Half of state schools in England and Wales – as many as 12,000 in all – are set to close on Wednesday in a pay dispute. Six more days of walkouts are planned over the coming months. Around 4.5million youngsters will be affected.
School staff will join 100,000 civil servants, 70,000 university staff and thousands of train drivers also staging industrial action on Wednesday in what experts fear is effectively the first general strike since 1926.
Half of state schools in England and Wales – as many as 12,000 in all – are set to close on Wednesday in a pay dispute
Jonathan Gullis, a former schools minister, said: ‘Pupils are having their education once again disrupted, harming their life chances. It is a shameful day for the profession.’
A source in the National Education Union said half of all primary and secondary state schools, along with some nurseries, were at risk of partially or fully closing on February 1.
At least 120,000 teachers are poised to walk out, and are expected to be joined by tens of thousands more after nine out of ten union members who voted in the ballot backed strike action.
In Scotland teachers are continuing their first campaign of industrial action in four decades. They are on strike for 16 consecutive days in January and February with today being day ten.
Around 10.6million children attend UK schools and nurseries – with around 95 per cent at state-funded institutions, according to government figures.
But nearly half now face being forced to stay at home, leaving many parents stranded without childcare.
Jonathan Gullis (pictured), a former schools minister called the strikes 'a shameful day for the profession.’
More than 30,000 disgruntled teachers have signed up to the NEU since it announced strike action last week, with the aim of joining the walkouts.
Striking teachers can wait as late as Wednesday morning to decide to strike, leaving parents and headteachers face days of limbo.
Hundreds of schools have already confirmed that they will be unable to open to all pupils, the Mail can reveal.
Letters were being sent out to parents warning them of possible disruption.
In Cardiff, more than 111 schools have confirmed they will be partially or fully closed on Wednesday.
And dozens of institutions have declared they will not be open to all pupils in Yorkshire, Cumbria, Gloucestershire and the West Midlands.
Experts urged ministers and union bosses to prioritise children amid fears the most disadvantaged would be the most affected.
Jon Andrews, head of analysis at the Education Policy Institute, said: ‘Given the severe
