Teachers on strike as government defends pay offer

Teachers at schools and sixth form colleges across England were out on picket lines today, as members of the National Education Union staged another day of strike action in their long running dispute over pay.

Union leaders accused ministers of refusing to engage, describing it as “irresponsible in the extreme”.

The Education department said they’d made a fair and reasonable pay offer to teachers – saying children should “be in classrooms where they belong.”