On February 1st, countless workers, employees, and educators united in protests across various country regions to voice their dissatisfaction with working conditions and labor unions. In London and other parts of the country, approximately 500,000 British employees rallied together to demand higher wages. This article delves into two crucial concerns stemming from these demonstrations: What impact does this shutdown have on children’s well-being? Additionally, what steps has the UK government under Rishi Sunak taken to alleviate economic challenges faced by teachers?
The biggest protests in the UK in the last ten years
Fears regarding the well-being of children during the shutdown have arisen. As per a Sky News report, the demonstration saw participation from over 300,000 teachers hailing from England and Wales, alongside 70,000 staff members representing 150 universities in Britain. Concurrently, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak declared, “This marks the most substantial pay increase in 30 years, and we are resolute in our pledge to elevate the initial salary for teachers to £30,000.” According to media outlets, this protest is the largest in England over the past decade.
The UK schools are closed due to teachers’ protests
Amidst the school closures prompted by the strike action, apprehensions regarding the well-being of children throughout the shutdown have escalated. The entire educational institutions in the nation had to shut down due to the protest. The strike that transpired on February 1, 2023, is poised to be the most far-reaching series of strikes witnessed in the UK over the last ten years. This comprehensive movement encompasses participation from school teachers, classroom assistants, select bus and train drivers, security personnel, civil servants, and employees of 150 universities.
Expansion of strikes to other economic sectors
The prime minister’s spokesman told reporters that the scale of the strikes is making things very difficult for people trying to go about their daily lives. The demonstrations were the latest in a series of strikes that have hit parts of the UK and will continue in the coming weeks, with strikes planned by nurses, midwives, ambulance crews, physiotherapists, railway workers and university staff.
UK teachers call for increased wages
Teachers are advocating for higher salaries. In a noteworthy development, educators in England and Wales have initiated a strike, marking their first such action since 2016, as they assert their demand for improved compensation. The National Education Union (NEU) is orchestrating these strikes, pushing for a pay increase surpassing inflation rates. Given the double-digit inflation experienced in the previous year, the union highlights that teachers’ actual earnings have plummeted by 23 per cent since 2010.
The effect of inflation on increasing economic problems
The worsening cost of living crisis, with inflation nearing 11%, has made everyone’s voices heard. Also, about 70,000 employees at 150 universities across the UK were on strike on February 1 to protest their salaries, working conditions and pensions. University presidents have offered a 5 per cent pay rise, but unions say the offer needs to be revised and expect members to reject the bid. The UK University and College Union (UCU) also wants to see pensions cut and benefits restored, as they say members will lose an average of 35% of their guaranteed future pension income.
Teachers clash with Rishi Sunak government over salaries.
In England, tens of thousands of teachers took to London streets to continue the government’s conflict over low wages and school funding. This demonstration was held at the same time as the second large-scale strike by UK teachers in the past year and amid the crisis of rising living costs. The NEU announced they would go on strike again to protest the cost of living crisis and the government’s indifference to teachers’ working conditions and wages.
The Rishi Sunak government’s indifference to the demands of the teachers
The NEU says that while the cost of living has increased dramatically, the government is unwilling to pay attention to their needs to improve their wages. They warned they would stage more widespread strikes if the government ignored them.
The decline in the quality of education in UK schools
According to teachers, the government’s apparent lack of concern for their challenges has resulted in a considerable exodus of teachers from their positions. This departure stems from the inability of teachers’ salaries to cover their living costs, leading to a notable decline in the standard of education within UK schools. The teachers squarely attribute these circumstances to the government and have issued a warning, indicating their intention to organize extended and more extensive strikes should their concerns and requests persistently go unnoticed.
The inability of the government to understand the conditions of UK teachers
Dr Mary Busted, the general secretary of the National Union of Education in England, accused the government of being unable to understand the conditions of teachers and schools in this country and said that the government’s inattention to the economic problems of teachers and education staff has made them more united. The strike of various public service sector employees in the UK started in the summer of last year and has continued intermittently.
Massive walkout by UK teachers
The Mirror wrote in an article referring to the widespread crisis in the school education sector in the UK. While UK schools face their biggest problem, one out of three UK teachers leave their jobs after five years. Amid warnings that teachers are overworked and underpaid, government data shows that almost a quarter of people who qualified to teach in the country in the past five years have left the profession.
Increasing pressure on Sunak’s government to negotiate with UK teachers
The UK government is pressured to start talks with teachers’ unions to prevent them from going on strike. Department for Education figures show that 26,443 qualified teachers have left the profession in the last five years. Over 20,000 recruits join the domain yearly, but one in eight leave within the first year. After three years, almost one in four has left the teaching profession.
The vital role of teachers in increasing the quality of education in UK schools
The dropout crisis is the biggest in the bankrupt UK education system. Schools will only decay with high-quality teachers. Teachers play a vital role in the discussion of education. Dr Mary Boustead, general secretary of the National Education Union, said: “It is a scandalous waste of talent, time and taxpayers’ money for successive Conservative governments to simply sit back as so many teachers leave the profession.”
Request for urgent negotiations with the government on wages
The Secretary General of the NEU stressed that the government should negotiate in good faith with the education unions to ensure that children get the education they deserve and that teachers and education staff receive their rights for their vital role.
100 professional teachers quit their jobs every week
The latest figures for public schools in England show that 116,532 new teachers started working in schools in the last five years, but only 90,89 teachers are still in the sector. This means that more than one hundred new qualified teachers are emerging from the profession every week.
Half of the UK’s teachers will leave their jobs in the next five years.
The NEU survey found that half of the teachers plan to leave their jobs within the next five years, and half of them complain about their workload. The UK government should spend more of the current budget on hiring and retaining teachers. The UK government needs to understand that it faces a huge problem. Of course, the Department for Education has announced they are investing an extra £2 billion in our schools next year and the year after.
