Northern Ireland principal warns that a third of young teachers are quitting the profession over pay, ahead of half-day strike

Lisburn principal Gillian Dunlop, a member of the Ulster Teachers' Union (UTU) is one of a number of teachers speaking out ahead of a half-day schools' strike due to take place on Tuesday involving several trade unions.

“A third of young teachers coming through recently haven’t stayed in the profession because of the pay which potentially impacts the quality of teaching for our children,” the Largymore Primary principal said.

“That and the difficulty in retaining staff because of the sheer workload is at the heart of why we feel we finally have no option other than to strike because the people who will suffer most unless this is addressed are the children."

She continued: “Our pupils are at the very heart of why we are doing this because we want to attract the very best graduates to the profession who deserve to have the level of their professionalism rewarded.

“Teachers are not paid for school holidays so when you take a salary of around £30,000 and divide it by the contracted number of working days, it shows a teacher earning roughly £150 a day. Is that all we’re worth?

“Why would a graduate, saddled with thousands of pounds of student debt, take a job in teaching with all the responsibility and workload when they could either go into another graduate level job for substantially better pay or take a job in a warehouse on similar pay?”

Another UTU member, Leigh McKay from Ballygalley, said two additional roles she has taken on are worth just £6.60 per day in take home pay.

“In order to make ends meet this year I had to undertake two extra roles in my school – head of year and school information officer. I’ve since calculated that for all that extra work and responsibility, I take home £6.60 extra a day," the Co Antrim teacher said.

“I never thought I’d be in this situation. We’re not being treated like professionals.”

Another teacher, Dungannon Primary principal David Thompson, voiced concerns about looming cuts to ‘lollipop’ road crossing safety officers.

“This could potentially endanger our children’s lives”, he said. “The cuts we’re now being asked to make are as basic as that.”

“This is an accident waiting to happen as thousands of children across Northern Ireland cross some very busy roads to get to school. It simply cannot be allowed to happen.

“The action teachers have been forced to take has, at its heart, the children. Our education system has never been in a poorer state. Enough is enough. The industrial action is to highlight not only the profession’s pay plight but equally the abject failure to resource the sector.”

The Ulster Teachers’ Union is, alongside the NASUWT, INTO and the NEU, one of four unions due to stage a walkout until 12 noon on Tuesday that is set to force the closure of most schools in Northern Ireland as they pursue a “fully funded pay

increase of 12% for 2022-23”.