By Chloe Collins

In the wake of the National Education Union’s teacher strikes on Wednesday 1st February, and with more strike dates announced in the coming weeks and months, here at Equal Education we want our tutors and partners to know that we stand in solidarity with all of our tutors who are observing the strikes. 

At Equal Education we strive to be market leaders in tutor pay and conditions. We continue to invest in competitive hourly rates and ensure that tutors feel well supported by our internal team. Our core belief is that a happy and supported tutor will go on to do their best work. We also aim to extend our values to all stakeholders involved. 

Paul Singh our Co-CEO makes the following statement, “At Equal Education, we want to ensure disruption to education is minimised following the pandemic. We see first hand the hard work, perseverance and general care those in the teaching profession demonstrate on a daily basis. We hope this can be resolved as soon as possible, and teachers are recognised for the pillar they represent in both society and the economy.”

As the strikes dominate the news, we feel it is important to understand the reasons behind the first strikes in this industry in several years. 

What?

Teachers across England and Wales will strike on a number of dates across February and March in a dispute over pay. 

Why?

Teachers, and indeed all of those working in the education sector, have increasingly seen their pay fall in real-terms while also seeing a huge increase in workload, and coupled with the stress of catch up as a result of the pandemic, they feel as if the government is a) not doing enough to support both teachers and pupils and b) is not taking their experiences and frustrations seriously enough. In short, teachers feel that there are significant pressures on the industry that the government is failing to act appropriately on. 

Here at Equal Education, we are acutely aware of the impact of budget cuts, especially on our most vulnerable student communities. We could not meet the needs of our young people with varying mental, social and physical needs without our specialist tutors. We recognise the importance of standing for your rights, and want to honour and champion that accordingly.

Where & When?

• Tuesday, 14 February (Wales)

• Tuesday, 28 February (Northern, North West, and Humber regions),

• Wednesday, 1 March (East Midlands, Western, Eastern regions)

• Thursday, 2 March (London, South East, South West regions)

• Wednesday, 15 March (England and Wales)

• Thursday, 16 March (England and Wales)

Logistics for our tutors:

Where it is possible, and may impact any tuition lessons with any of your Equal Education students, we request that you please inform all key contacts, including the Support Team, that you will not be available prior to the scheduled lesson. If you would like to discuss this any further, please contact us directly.

Conclusion

When teachers suffer, pupils suffer. Nobody wants to strike, especially those who are on the front line and can see the effect of strike action on their pupils. It is always a last resort and should be taken seriously by those in government who make decisions on the education of children in the UK. We would like to reiterate that Equal Education supports all our tutors that are taking part in these important demonstrations.