Nursery World - Cost crisis, strike threat and staff shortage loom large in schools

Schools are facing a triple-whammy of problems this autumn and beyond as concerns are raised about the potential knock-on effects on children. Meredith Jones Russell reports

Having recently been disrupted by lockdowns, pupils may experience further closures

As staff and children begin a new school year this month, the financial crisis facing many schools looks set to come to a head, with teachers' pay and funding allocation woes set against a backdrop of the cost-of-living squeeze and record inflation rises.

Despite Governmental promises of ‘landmark’ increases in salaries for teachers of between 5 and 8.9 per cent from this month, teaching unions have warned that due to inflation rates of 10.1 per cent and the cost-of-living crisis, this represents a pay cut in real terms.

The National Education Union (NEU) has scheduled a preliminary online strike ballot for state school teachers and leaders in England and Wales from 24 September. The union expects this to be followed by a formal ballot in November, which it has said will be the largest teachers' pay ballot ‘in a generation’.

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