Portsmouth teachers 'are fed up' with underfunded education system as strike action begins

HUNDREDS of teachers rallied in Portsmouth on the first of several NEU strike days set for the next two months.
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Following speeches from union representatives which elicited cheers and applause, the crowd marched along Guildhall Walk and Isambard Brunel Road towards the Cascades Fountain before returning to the square for further demonstrations. Workers from other unions stood in solidarity and held signs demanding higher pay.

Primary school teacher and National Education Union representative Kayleigh Oastler said: ‘If I want to teach a science lesson, I have to go out and buy the resources to teach that science lesson. We don’t have the money in our school to keep all of these resources - we don’t have them.

Striking teachers at the National Education Union rally in Guildhall Square, Portsmouth
Picture: Chris Moorhouse (jpns 010223-44)Striking teachers at the National Education Union rally in Guildhall Square, Portsmouth
Picture: Chris Moorhouse (jpns 010223-44)
Striking teachers at the National Education Union rally in Guildhall Square, Portsmouth Picture: Chris Moorhouse (jpns 010223-44)
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‘We have children that come in, some of the children are hungry. They need food so I personally, in the past, have brought in biscuits and cereal bars so my children can actually have food in the morning. At the end of the day, I don’t think it should be coming out of our pockets.

‘We are fed up with services being cut. Community centres no longer exist, sure start centres are closed down. The only community centres that actual families and children can access now are schools - and we are struggling.’

Teacher Ian Roper added: ‘We have to really be very careful with how many basic resources we can give children. We struggle for children to have pencils for example - I’m not joking. In our secondary colleagues, it's horrifying to hear the number of not specialist teachers teachers that are taking classes.’

Tension surrounded the issue of last year’s government announcement of unfunded pay rises for teachers. The School Teachers’ Review Body found that the proposed pay rise of up to five per cent would cost schools up to £1.3bn without additional funding.

Teachers gathered at Guildhall Square for an NEU strike rally. Left is Amy Allen. In the right image Ian Roper is top centre, Kaliegh Oaster is bottom centre.Teachers gathered at Guildhall Square for an NEU strike rally. Left is Amy Allen. In the right image Ian Roper is top centre, Kaliegh Oaster is bottom centre.
Teachers gathered at Guildhall Square for an NEU strike rally. Left is Amy Allen. In the right image Ian Roper is top centre, Kaliegh Oaster is bottom centre.
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Among the speakers was Hampshire NEU executive member Helen Reeder who was joined by fellow Median Primary School teachers Toni Stewart and Emily Pinell. Helen admonished the education secretary’s criticism of the strikes and said ‘your government is too busy lining their pockets to worry about what is happening in our schools.’

Toni said: ‘We just don’t believe that teachers' pay is really where it should be and we want a fully funded pay rise from the government. We’re to have TAs in our school but we don’t know how long we’re going to have them for as we see other schools with less support staff. It's not just about teachers' pay, it’s about education as a whole. If we don’t do this now, it will just become more and more of a crisis.’

Emily added: ‘Obviously in the city we’re aware that support staff have been let go and classes are struggling without our support staff as well. We’re just striking for one day and that doesn’t disrupt much of schooling. If they act now and support us now then we won’t have to strike more in the future.’

Alongside NEU teachers were members of the PCS, UCU and supporters from Unison and Portsmouth Trades Council among other bodies. Members of the public also joined the march to show their support.

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Gareth Edwards - whose children attend Bramble Infant School which is closed due to the strikes - said: ‘The people who are on strike today - the teachers especially - are fully deserving of the pay rise that they’re asking for.

‘Teachers do an incredible job every single day which as a parent I simply can’t fault. What the government is doing now is trying to make this situation where we have to choose between school supplies and staff. It's this kind of horrible blackmail that’s designed to set parents against teachers. It's really important that I come along with my children to say “we support what you’re doing today.”

Infant school teacher Amy Allen said: ‘School funding has been being cut for years and we’re being asked to fund pay rises out of that. We’re always having to moderate what we’re doing in schools. Even getting things like white card and colouring pens - it all has to be thought about and considered.

‘More importantly it's the support staff, it's the number of children we’ve got with EHCPs and support plans, the emotional needs post-Covid. The needs are incredibly high and then there's not enough money for the support staff to come in and work with them.

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Hampsire has 7,984 NEU members and schools in Portsmouth and surrounding areas could close for further action on March 2, 15 and 16.

Speaking on the day of the rally, shadow schools minister and Portsmouth South MP Stephen Morgan said: ‘The responsibility for the impact of today’s teacher strikes lies squarely with the Tory government. Ministers have known about the risk of industrial action for months, but the never-ending merry-go-round of education secretaries has meant that it has not been addressed.

‘Teachers have been overworked, overstretched and undervalued; pushed to the brink by 13 years of Conservative neglect of our children’s education. Thousands of both experienced and newly recruited teachers are leaving classrooms in their droves, while too few new teachers are coming in to replace them.

‘Only in the last month has there been attempts by the education minister to engage the unions but these meetings have clearly been nothing more than tokenistic window dressing.

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‘Labour would have got round the table with the education unions months ago, to seriously negotiate on pay and conditions to avert these strikes. It’s time for the education secretary to do the same.

‘No-one wants strikes and no-one wants children’s learning to be disrupted. There’s still time to prevent further strikes, but only if the government takes responsibility, offers meaningful negotiations and finds a solution. If the Conservatives won’t fix the mess they have created, it is time they stepped aside and let people vote for a government that will.’

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