The education secretary has “squandered an opportunity” to avoid teacher strikes which will go ahead on Wednesday, union leaders said.
Gillian Keegan met the general secretaries of unions representing teachers and headteachers on Monday afternoon in a bid to resolve a pay dispute which threatens disruption to more than 23,000 schools this week.
Walkouts by teacher members of the National Education Union (NEU) in England and Wales will take place on Wednesday – the first of seven days of strikes in February and March – after the talks failed to find a resolution.
Mary Bousted and Kevin Courtney, joint NEU general secretaries, said: “Gillian Keegan has squandered an opportunity to avoid strike action on Wednesday.
“The government has been unwilling to seriously engage with the causes of strike action.
