Nursery World - Teachers' dispute 'hits nurseries hard'

Nursery schools across Northern Ireland have been badly affected by the ongoing work to rule by teachers, which could lead to redundancies if it continues much longer, the National Association of Head Teachers has warned. The warning was made last week by Fern Turner, NAHT regional officer, after the Northern Ireland education minister, Barry Gardiner, met leaders of the four teachers' unions involved in the strike, which began at the start of January and is now into its fifth month.

The warning was made last week by Fern Turner, NAHT regional officer, after the Northern Ireland education minister, Barry Gardiner, met leaders of the four teachers' unions involved in the strike, which began at the start of January and is now into its fifth month.

Ms Turner said, 'Things are not good at all. Education is being disrupted.

Teachers had said that it wouldn't affect children, but it has.

'Teachers are not covering for absent colleagues, so substitute teachers have to be brought in on each and every occasion. This has created a financial burden on schools and the result will be redundancies that would not have been necessary. It is extremely worrying.'

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