Strike action will further disrupt the education of children and young people

Strike action announced today by the Northern Ireland Teachers’ Council (NITC) will serve only to disrupt the education of children and young people across Northern Ireland, the Department of Education has said.

Strike action announced today by the Northern Ireland Teachers’ Council (NITC) will serve only to disrupt the education of children and young people across Northern Ireland, the Department of Education has said.

Members of the NITC intend to engage in strike action on Wednesday 29 November and on a further four dates in the 2024 Spring term.

Responding to the announcement, Department of Education Permanent Secretary, Dr Mark Browne said:

“Teachers carry out a vital role and deserve to be paid at a fair rate for the work they do. The Department fully understands the frustration of teachers and school leaders over the ongoing absence of a pay offer. It is regrettable that the Department has been unable to offer teachers a pay award for the past three years similar to other jurisdictions, but it is simply unaffordable within an inadequate education budget.”

Dr Browne continued:

“Active engagement has been taking place for many months between Management Side and Teachers’ Side of the Teachers’ Negotiating Committee on a teachers’ pay settlement for 2021/22 and 2022/23. The trade unions are fully aware that Public Sector Pay Policy requires that a pay offer can only be made if it is affordable within the allocated budget. 

"It is therefore very disappointing that NITC has decided to call for a half day strike next week and on four further occasions next year. Continued strike action by trade unions serves only to cause disruption to the education of those who least deserve it, our children and young people, at a time when the Department is forced to work within the challenging position imposed on it by the reduced allocation that education has received in the Secretary of State’s budget.”

Notes to editors: 

1. There are approximately 20,000 full-time equivalent Teachers in Grant Aided Schools. (see - Teacher workforce statistics in grant-aided schools in Northern Ireland, 2022/23 (nisra.gov.uk))

2. The median salary of a Teacher is £41,094 (note this is the Upper Pay Scale 3 figure at Sept 2020).

3. The overall pay bill for the teaching workforce is approximately £1.3b. A pay rise of 1% for teachers equates to £12.5m. A pay rise of 5% for teachers equates to £62m.

4. The teaching trade unions, (NITC) are requesting a pay rise over the three years of circa 30% which equates to a recurring cost of almost £370m per annum.  

5. Any pay increase along the lines of that offered to teachers in England over the past three years would have a recurring cost of c.£160m.

6. Follow us on Twitter @Education_ni(external link opens in a new window / tab)

7. Media enquiries to the Department of Education Press Office at press.office@education-ni.gov.uk

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