Student Rinny Ahmed spoke up for teachers

SIXTH-form teachers became the first in Islington to go on strike – with industrial action expected in primary and secondary schools next year.

Seventy-seven members of staff walked out at the City and Islington Sixth Form College (CANDI) in Goswell Road, Angel, on Wednesday as part of a national day of action organised by the National Education Union (NEU).

Campaigners say staff are being forced to use food banks because they cannot afford to get by, while there were warnings on the picket line that colleges have faced stinging cuts to budgets meaning the loss of services like pastoral care.

One teacher at CANDI, who did not want to be named, said that public sector workers across the board had “essentially just had enough” and accused the government of “sucking dry” further education institutions.

She said: “I think Covid really did open people’s eyes because they relied on those key workers to keep the country going. And then as soon as things go back to normal, not only do we not get a thank-you – they don’t even give us what we actually deserve.”

Islington North MP Jeremy Corbyn and Dr Mary Bousted, joint general secretary of the NEU, were also present on the picket line.

Dr Bousted hailed the strike action as a rearguard to the “death by a thousand cuts” imposed on higher education colleges.

Speaking out for teachers who have seen their pay decline by nearly a quarter in real terms since 2010, she said:

“We’ve got teachers now using food banks, teachers who are worried about filling up their car with petrol to go to work, teachers who work 55 to 60 hours a week who are taking second jobs. They are facing insurmountable odds and things have got to change.”

Jeremy Corbyn and Dr Mary Bousted

The national picture is that nearly half of all teachers leave the profession within 10 years; one in four leave within two years and one in eight leave within one year. This year, less than half the teacher training places have been filled.

Rinny Ahmed, a 17-year old student at City and Islington College, said: “If we’re going to have a government that hurts our teachers like this, they must understand they are harming our youth because we cannot survive without our teachers.

“I don’t blame teachers for leaving. I don’t blame teachers for walking away from this job.”

The NEU balloted primary and secondary teachers over industrial action last month with strikes expected in January.

A CANDI spokesman said: “The National Joint Council leads on joint pay negotiations on behalf of its members and as a group we do not set teachers’ pay rates independently.

“The NEU has been clear that the dispute is with the government and not with colleges and agrees that strike action is detrimental to students’ education.”