According to the head of the National Education Union (NEU), teachers in England are expected to overwhelmingly reject the pay offer put forth by the government, and the union is planning

two more days of strike action. The NEU, which is the largest education union in Britain, had advised its members to decline the offer of a one-off payment of £1,000 this year and an average pay rise of 4.5% in the next financial year, deeming it as "insulting".

In an interview with Times Radio, Kevin Courtney, the joint head of the NEU, said that he expected a "strong rejection vote" and the result was set to be announced at 8 a.m. GMT. The strike action taken by tens of thousands of teachers across Britain this year has resulted in empty classrooms and added pressure on Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to help resolve the dispute.

As a result of the anticipated rejection, the NEU is planning two more days of strike action, scheduled for April 27 and May 2. The pay dispute has been ongoing for months, with teachers calling for an above-inflation pay award. While the government has argued that its offer is "fair", the NEU has criticized the proposed pay increase as not meeting the rising cost of living, particularly with the current rate of inflation.

The strike action by teachers has caused significant disruption to schools, with many forced to close due to the lack of staff. The NEU has argued that its members are "overworked and underpaid", with many being forced to work long hours outside of their contracted time. The union has called for a significant increase in pay to address the issue, which has been compounded by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pay dispute has highlighted the ongoing tensions between the government and public sector workers, who have been subjected to years of pay restraint. The NEU has argued that teachers' pay has fallen significantly in real terms over the past decade and that a significant increase is necessary to address the issue. With the rejection of the government's offer expected, it remains to be seen how the dispute will be resolved and what impact it will have on schools and students in England. Photo by AnemoneProjectors (talk), Wikimedia commons.