The education secretary has said she is willing to enter “formal talks” on pay, conditions and reform if next week’s planned teachers’ strike is called off.
Multiple meetings between the government and unions have so far resulted in no resolution to the dispute over pay and school funding, as leaders have said Gillian Keegan and her officials have not been prepared to formally negotiate.
It is not clear whether today’s announcement means the government is willing to discuss this year’s pay deal, but it represents a step forward in a dispute that had made further strikes seem inevitable.
A similar offer was made to nurses who agreed to suspend strike action to enter “intensive” pay talks.
