A TEACHER has said she is striking to protect the future of schools and the quality of education.

Nicola Hawkins, who is in her mid-50s, lives in Cumbria and is a history lead and primary school teacher. She said today that teachers will need to make tough choices if pay is not increased.

“I have been a teacher for over 25 years and I am very much embedded in my local school and my community and I love my school,” she said.

“It is really difficult to make that decision to walk out, but I’ve come to the conclusion that it is in everyone’s long-term interests.”

Ms Hawkins added that striking has been the only way to get attention from the Department for Education, which she said has ignored reports highlighting the problems in the education sector.

“We put evidence out to the school teachers’ review body (STRB) every year and it’s been pointed out that recruitment targets aren’t being met, that teachers are leaving — but our pay has been whittled away over the last decade or so,” she said.

“Long term, what I really want for the kids in my school and for every school is for students to be taught by people who are valued and who are paid their worth. And I think it sells those students short if they don’t have that.”

Walkouts by teacher members of the National Education Union (NEU) in England and Wales take place tomorrow: the first of seven days of strikes in February and March.

The strikes follow failed talks on Monday between Education Secretary Gillian Keegan and the general secretaries of unions representing teachers and headteachers.