London to be hardest hit as quarter of schools to shut

More schools in London will close completely during Wednesday’s “mega strike” than anywhere else in the country, new figures reveal.

Almost a quarter of the capital’s schools will shut down when teachers walk out compared with the national average of 14 per cent, according to a survey of teachers.

A further 45 per cent of London schools will close to some pupils, causing more disruption to parents.

At the same time as teachers walk out on Wednesday, university lecturers, train drivers, civil servants, bus drivers and security guards will also strike in the biggest day of co-ordinated industrial action in the UK for decades.

Tuesday’s data was released by education app TeacherTapp which surveyed more than 8,000 teachers.

It comes as headteachers warned that using volunteers to help keep schools open during the strike by members of the National Education Union could have “profoundly serious implications” for the safety and wellbeing of pupils.

And there are fears that schools are struggling to plan for the walkout after the NEU told members to keep their headteachers in the dark about whether they were taking part.

Headteachers are under pressure to do all they can to keep schools open amid fears of the impact on children who have already suffered during the pandemic school closures.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has urged teachers to notify their headteacher if they plan to join the strike, to help schools avoid “unnecessary disruption”. But advice on the NEU website stresses that members do not have to tell their employer whether they intend to strike.

Kevin Courtney, joint general secretary of the NEU, said it was “very appropriate” that teachers were not telling headteachers about plans for the strike. Speaking on Sky News today he said it was “completely wrong” to say teachers were being irresponsible by taking industrial action.

He added: “The Government is letting our children down. There is disruption every day in our schools because the Government isn’t investing in our schools or the people who work in them. The point about tomorrow is that it is a strike. We want our strike to be effective in order to concentrate the Government’s mind.”

He also said last-minute talks with Gillian Keegan had failed because she bought “no proposals” to the table on pay and conditions.

London parents have reported confusion over whether to send their children to school, with some not yet receiving confirmation that their school will be open.

In some schools classes in the same year group will be affected differently, with one class being sent home while another is able to come in, leading to fears children in the same year will miss different amounts of teaching.

TeacherTapp found that 23 per cent of London teachers said their school will close completely tomorrow, compared to 15 per cent in the south east, nine per cent in the Midlands and 11 per cent in the east of England.