The education secretary, Gillian Keegan, has accused striking teachers of undermining children’s recovery from the Covid pandemic, saying she did “pretty well” at winning extra funding for schools from the Treasury.
Keegan told a conference in Bournemouth: “Let me be clear, we should not be having these strikes in general, but certainly not now. Children have been through so much in the pandemic and I can’t think of a worse time to be willingly keeping them out of school.”
The strike over pay by National Education Union members in England is said to have affected around half of the country’s 23,000 state schools, with many closed or restricting attendance for the seventh day of industrial action this year. An eighth strike day is scheduled to take place on Friday.
About one in 20 schools in England are thought to have closed completely and many more restricted access to certain year groups, with some having to cancel sports events or transition days for incoming pupils.
“This disruption is undermining the stability we have been working so hard to recover after the pandemic,” Keegan told the Local Government Association annual conference on Wednesday, while teachers protested outside the centre where the event was being held.
Pressed by Laura Wright, the deputy leader of Exeter city council and a former teacher, to meet union leaders to discuss pay and funding, Keegan hinted there could be an announcement soon on the 2023-24 pay round.
