It was one of the biggest education demonstrations in Scottish history, and not even The Rock could stop an estimated 30,000 teachers from protesting about pay.

Starting in Kelvingrove Park in Glasgow’s West End, the marchers moved on to the city centre, where, prior to the demo, organisers had been warned that they could see their progress blocked by filming for Hobbs and Shaw, a spin-off movie from the Fast and Furious series, featuring The Rock (aka Dwayne Johnson).

But it seems that even Hollywood giants understand the importance of teachers’ pay and conditions, and The Rock was absent from filming, allowing the demonstrators, organised by the EIS union, to have their time in the spotlight.

The marchers were demanding a 10 per cent pay rise, with speakers saying that they were no longer prepared to accept big real-terms drops in pay and salaries that compare unfavourably with those of teachers in other countries.

The organisers of the demo made it clear that the first major teacher-led industrial action in Scotland since the 1980s is increasingly likely.

Addressing the rally, EIS president Alison Thornton said: “Nine years of pay settlements under the public-sector pay cap have resulted in the value of our take-home pay being down by nearly 25 per cent. The salaries of teachers in schools in Scotland are below the European average and those of other countries in the wider world.

“Our pupil contact hours are high, and we still work an average of 11 hours of unpaid overtime each week to deal with the demands of the job.

“No wonder teacher recruitment and retention is in a crisis situation.”

EIS general secretary Larry Flanagan added that teachers had been “under the cosh of austerity for the past decade”.