Headteachers may have “no choice” but to close their doors to pupils during strikes, a union leader has warned.
Paul Whiteman, general secretary of the NAHT school leaders’ union, said schools could have to shut during walkouts by teachers in England and Wales if “staffing numbers are dangerously low”.
The warning comes after the NEU teaching union announced plans to hold seven days of walkouts in February and March in a dispute over pay.
Nine out of 10 teacher members of the NEU who voted in the ballot backed strike action, and the union passed the 50 per cent ballot turnout required by law.
Education secretary Gillian Keegan is due to meet teaching union leaders on Wednesday morning in a bid to avert the strikes, which the NEU has said could affect more than 23,000 schools.
Downing Street has warned that widespread strikes planned by teachers, train drivers and civil servants on 1 February could likely cause “significant disruption” to the public.
Mr Whiteman told the PA news agency: “A school leader’s first priority is always the safety of the pupils in their school.
“So if staffing numbers are dangerously low, it may be that leaders have no choice but to be compelled to close schools on safety grounds.”
Last year, Mr Whiteman told school leaders ahead of an NAHT strike ballot that he could not “envisage circumstances where we instigate action that will call on you to close your school”.
His union revealed yesterday that its turnout of 42 per cent had been too low to legally take industrial action in England, but a re-ballot is being considered.
In Wales, the turnout crossed the threshold, with 55 per cent of members voting.
Guidance issued by the Department for Education yesterday advised that schools should focus on vulnerable children and those with parents who are critical workers if they need to prioritise places due to strike action.
It adds that, in addition to prioritising vulnerable children, “schools should consider prioritising pupils due to take public examinations and other formal assessments”.
But Mr Whiteman said: “Frankly the guidance provided to headteachers by the DfE yesterday is at best naive. It is based on local disruption rather than the national walkouts planned by the NEU.”
He added that it was “unlikely” that headteachers will “easily gain the cooperation of teams that are so frustrated with how they are treated by the government and are party to the same dispute as their NEU colleagues”.
Ms Keegan has admitted that she cannot guarantee that schools will remain open, but told ITV’s Good Morning Britain that she would work with heads “to make sure as many schools are open for as many children as possible”.
The Association of School and College Leaders is currently deciding on its next steps after almost 70 per cent of members voted to move to a formal ballot on strike action.
ASCL general secretary Geoff Barton said school leaders had “huge sympathy with their classroom teacher colleagues”.
On the use of agency staff to cover for staff who are on strike, he said this “is a difficult issue as it may sour industrial relations”.
ASCL’s advice to school leaders is “to discuss options with union colleagues and reach agreement over the course of action to be taken”, he said.
Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU, said: “No teacher or support-staff member wants to be taking strike action but if there is no significant and meaningful negotiation occurring it will be the only option left.
“All of this can be avoided but only if Gillian Keegan stops burying her head in the sand and faces up to the consequences of decades of underinvestment in education and the underpaying of teachers and support staff.”
Teacher strikes add to wave of action in February
The teaching strikes are the latest to be announced in a wave of industrial action that has seen stoppages across various sectors in recent months.
The Aslef transport union announced on Tuesday that train drivers will stage fresh strikes on 1 and 3 February after the rejection of a pay offer.
Hundreds of staff working for the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice), which advises the NHS on the best drugs and treatments available for patients, are taking strike action today.
Members of the Royal College of Nursing in England are also due to walk out again on Wednesday and Thursday, and have announced two more strikes in England and Wales on 6 and 7 February.
The prime minister’s official spokesman said: “We’re in no doubt that this strike action, some of which will fall on the same day or days, will cause significant disruption to the public - whether it’s children having their education disrupted or the public trying to go about their daily lives on their commute.
“We don’t think it’s the right course of action, we continue to call unions to step away from the picket lines and continue with discussions.”
