Today the government has launched a consultation to
introduce new protections for children and young people’s
education during any future strike action. The planned measures
will provide greater reassurance and certainty for children and
parents.
Minimum service levels will ensure that in the event of any
future strike action, children and young people can continue to
receive education and do not miss out on any vital learning. The
legislation brings us in line with countries like France, Italy,
Spain where public services reliably continue in times of
industrial action.
This year’s school strikes were part of the biggest outbreak of
industrial action in a generation, with far reaching consequences
across the education system. Cumulatively over 25 million school
days have been lost over 10 strike days in schools alone.
This strike action also came at a time when schools and colleges
were doing their best to recover from the impact of Covid on
children and young people’s education. Setting regulations for
minimum service levels will help us safeguard children’s time in
education from further disruption caused by industrial action.
The consultation invites
views on a number of proposals. These include priority attendance
for vulnerable children and young people, exam groups, children
of critical workers and primary school pupils, as well as the use
of rotas for strikes lasting five days or more.
Education Secretary, said:
Keeping children in school is my number one priority. Last year’s
school strikes were some of the most disruptive on record for
children and parents with 25 million cumulative days lost,
alongside the strike action that badly affected students in
colleges and universities.
We cannot afford a repeat of that disruption - particularly as
young people continue to catch up from the pandemic.
Whilst I know many schools and colleges worked really hard to
keep children and young people in face-to-face education during
strikes, we must make sure that approach is applied in every
school, in every area of country.
This decision follows on from recent discussions between
Education Secretary, , and education trade unions
to explore voluntary agreements in schools and colleges.
While talks with the education unions were constructive, not
enough progress was made to ensure protections for children and
young people would be in place for the next academic year.
The government has therefore taken the step to open the nine-week
consultation to hear the views of parents, young people and the
education sector on how best to ensure minimum service levels in
schools, colleges as well higher education institutions.
Many school and college leaders worked hard to keep classrooms
open and prioritise places for pupils and students sitting
external exams, vulnerable children and children of critical
workers.
The government’s proposals set out minimum service levels which
would ensure the groups who need face-to-face education the most
can continue to access education on strike days.
The government is also seeking evidence of the impact of strike
action in higher education to determine if a minimum service
level could mitigate the impact of any future strike action.
Earlier this month the Prime Minister announced that minimum
service levels legislation for rail, ambulance and border force
workers will be passed to mitigate disruption to the public if
strikes are called.
