More than 120,000 teachers across England and Wales were expected to walk off the job this week to demand better pay and working conditions.
After a decade of paltry wages in the state-funded school system and inflation reaching double digits, the National Education Union (NEU) said teachers in the UK had experienced a 23 per cent real terms pay cut since 2010.
IEU Branch Secretary Terry Burke said it was extraordinary so many UK teachers had been forced to take up a second job or leave the teaching profession altogether.
“Teachers are highly trained professionals and experts in their practice,” Mr Burke said.
“They have dedicated their professional lives to educating and positively influencing future generations, so to hear of so many struggling financially is disgraceful.
