Teachers striking over pay and budget cuts held rallies across England, with large turnouts in central London, Manchester and Brighton, despite fewer schools appearing to be affected than in previous industrial action.
The strike by the National Union of Teachers – which left an estimated 7,000 of England’s 22,000 state schools closed or partially closed for the day – was designed to protest against the effects of teacher workload pressures as well as a squeeze on funding that has led to some schools laying off staff even as pupil numbers are set to rise.
Kevin Courtney, the NUT’s acting general secretary, said: “This has been a very well supported strike, both by NUT members and the general public. We thank all those parents who have supported us despite the inconvenience it may have caused.
“This strike should not have been necessary. The NUT will keep campaigning to ensure that the education our children receive is not compromised through school budget cuts.”
The Department for Education said about 11% of state schools in England had closed as a result of the strike, while a further 20% were partially open but with reduced numbers of staff. In some cases some year groups were told not to come in to school for the day.
The DfE said: “On 5 July 2016 there were 21,957 publicly funded schools in England. Out of these, 63.2% were open, 20.3% were partially open, 11.3% were closed and the status of 5.2% was unknown.”
1000 in Manchester rally. Young & diverse. 3,000 in Bristol. Great demo in Brighton with lots of parental support. pic.twitter.com/LNh1tJTbUA
— Kevin Courtney (NUT) (@cyclingkev) July 5, 2016
In a similar one-day strike held in July 2014, 21% of schools were closed, while a combined strike by the major teaching unions including the NASUWT led to the closure of about 60%, though those figures included schools in Wales as well as England.
In Manchester, more than 100 teachers and union activists gathered at All Saints park before marching to Piccadilly Gardens.
Clutching a purple NUT banner, primary school teacher Nick Wigmore said there was a crisis in education as new teachers quit and more experienced members of staff were made redundant.
“I’m seeing an awful lot of schools facing quite dramatic financial deficits over the next few years and the pressure’s getting much worse now that we’ve got increasing employer costs and less cash per pupil,” he said. “There’s been more redundancies in the last six months than I’ve seen in the previous five years.”
The 43-year-old added: “I won’t quit, but I’ve considered what the options might be. I’m determined to remain as a teacher because it’s an important job, but I’m worried there will come a time when it’s just too much.”
Cheryl Boyes, a teacher in Blackburn, Lancashire, said: “We want more funding for the children and I think the government needs to listen to us because we know how much help these children need. We’re doing this not for ourselves but for the children. We’ve had a lot of parents supporting us. They know we’re standing up for the children.”
Amy Vose, a primary school teacher in Tameside, said one local school had wrongly put out a leaflet to parents claiming that staff were striking over pay and conditions. “We’re not striking over pay and conditions – we’re striking over your children’s education and it’s important schools send the right message,” she said.
The Labour MP Nic Dakin used an emergency question in parliament to accuse the government of ignoring the pressures on school budgets. But the schools minister Nick Gibb called the strike “a futile, politically motivated gesture, and nothing to do with raising standards in education”.
Earlier, Morgan told the BBC the strike was “certainly not popular with parents for whom this is a huge inconvenience”.
