Teachers in Northern Ireland will go on strike again on Thursday 18 January as part of a long-running pay dispute.
The five recognised teaching unions in Northern Ireland will take part in the 24-hour industrial action. Previous strikes have led to most schools closing.
The UK government has offered a financial package to settle public sector pay disputes in Northern Ireland, but it is conditional on the return of the Stormont executive.
The Northern Ireland Teachers’ Council (NITC), an umbrella group representing the five unions, said four strike days were planned for the spring term of 2024, with the first on 18 January.
Jacquie White, general secretary of the Ulster Teachers’ Union, said it was “unbelievable” that teachers would be entering 2024 with no resolution to the pay dispute.
More teacher strike action over pay
“Despite the fact that funding for the public sector pay claim has been identified within the initial offer which now sits with the secretary of state [Chris Heaton-Harris], the ultimate irony remains that because of the current situation in Stormont, there’s no apparent movement or will to deliver it,” she said.
“Meanwhile, teachers continue to hold together a system which is crumbling beneath the weight of long-term underinvestment, a system which is short-changing our children and risking our future socioeconomic success as a country.”
NASUWT national official Justin McCamphill said: “Teachers should not be pawns in a political game. Teachers want a return of government in Northern Ireland but also want to be fairly rewarded for the work that they do.
“Teachers are fully prepared for strike action but should never have been put in this position.”
He added: “Last week the Independent Review of Education in Northern Ireland raised major concerns in relation to the ongoing funding crisis.
“Education in Northern Ireland must be funded at the same level as the rest of the UK, while ensuring that funding matches the needs of our children and young people.”
The NAHT school leaders’ union and the INTO and NEU teaching unions will also take part in the strike action.
Teachers in Northern Ireland have not had a pay increase for almost three years.
The unions have said that classroom teachers in England, Scotland and Wales now earn thousands of pounds more than their counterparts in Northern Ireland at the same grade.
However, school leaders in Scotland have complained that salaries at headteacher level compare badly with the rest of the UK.
