Gillian Keegan appeared resigned to teacher strikes going ahead next week as she urged leaders to keep their schools open during the action in a speech today.
Keep “as many schools open” and “as many children in school as possible” during strikes was the message from the education secretary as she addressed an education conference this morning.
The NEU teaching union announced last Monday that teachers would go on strike from 1 February after 90 per cent of teacher members voted for strike action in a ballot turnout of 53 per cent.
Next Wednesday will be the first of seven strike dates scheduled to take place across England and Wales in February and March.
Speaking to the Church of England Education Office’s National Conference in London today, Ms Keegan said: “For our teachers to have an impact, they need to be in school.”
She added that she would “always listen” and her “door is always open”.
While the Department for Education and unions met for a series of talks this month, “no progress” was reportedly made and one teaching union leader warned that “we are going to have to move mountains” to avoid a strike over pay.
Referring to the government pledging an extra £2.3 billion per year in schools over the next two years, Ms Keegan said it “may not have been smart” for her to use her “political capital in the first few weeks but I hope it does go to show my personal commitment to our schools”.
Last night, Tes revealed that the DfE will miss the deadline for submitting its evidence over teacher pay levels for next year to the independent pay review body as it had not yet “finalised views agreed cross-government on the affordability position to put forward to the School Teachers’ Review Body”.
Ms Keegan also praised the Church of England for its commitment to education, claiming that, without the organisation, “pupils across the country would be learning less and doing worse”.
She added that a “big part of that” is that Church of England schools have used the “academy trust model”.
“This is the structure that we think is going to make the biggest difference for our children. And we know it only works if focused on improving quality all the time, always striving for excellence.”
Ms Keegan also reiterated her pledge that when Church of England schools become academies, they will “retain the statutory freedoms and protections that apply to church schools”.
