Teachers in England are on strike again today, following teachers in Northern Ireland who walked out yesterday.
It means some schools will close temporarily over the next few weeks.
Members of the National Education Union (NEU) in England are striking on Thursday 27 April and again on Tuesday 2 May.
In Northern Ireland, five teaching unions went on strike on Wednesday 26 April.
This follows six days of strike action by members of the NEU in England across February and March.
Teachers in Wales and Scotland agreed on a pay offer and called off planned strikes last month.
What are strikes and why do they happen?
A strike is when a group of workers decide to stop working to try to bring about change.
Employees do this when they want to protest against something they think is unfair where they work, like pay or working conditions.
Strikes often happen because workers want those in charge to listen to what they want.
A strike is a way of taking industrial action to protest.
Why are teachers striking?
One of the key reasons teachers say they are striking is over pay, the amount of money teachers get to do their job.
Unions argue that inflation – which sees the cost of things, like food and fuel go up – is above 10% and teachers need to be paid more so they can afford these things.
In England the government’s offer included a £1,000 one-off payment this year and a 4.3% pay rise for most staff next year. The starting salary for teachers in England is also due to rise to £30,000 a year by September 2023.
All four unions involved in the dispute, the National Education Union (NEU), the National Association of Head Teachers (NAHT), the NASUWT, and the Association of School and College Leaders (ASCL), have rejected the offer.
They said they want above inflation pay rises and extra money to make sure the money for the pay rises don’t come from school budgets.
The Department for Education said it was a “fair and reasonable offer” and that schools would receive an extra £2.3bn over the next two years.
Unions argue it was “insulting” and not fully funded, which could mean schools having to make cuts elsewhere.
Most teachers in England and Wales had a 5% pay rise in 2022. In Northern Ireland many teachers have been offered 3.2% increases for the last school year and this school year.
Education Secretary Gillian Keegan said pay would now be decided by the independent pay review body.
Will schools be closed?
Some schools will close in England and Northern Ireland on strikes days.
During the national strikes in February and March fewer than half of schools were open.
Head teachers decide whether to shut schools and some may offer remote teaching.
There are no planned strikes in Scotland and Wales.View comments
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