§ Mr. Hancockasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science how many schools were closed in the last week of February due to industrial action by the National Union of Teachers or the National Association of Schoolmasters and the Union of Women Teachers; and how many schoolchildren were in the schools affected.
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§ Sir Keith JosephThe 27,000 primary and secondary schools maintained by 104 local education authorities in England and Wales cater for about 8.3 million pupils and employ about 420,000 full-time teachers. Comprehensive information about the extent and effects of recent industrial action in these schools is not available centrally. The National Union of Teachers called on members in 212 schools with a total of some 147,000 pupils to strike on 26, 27 and 28 February. Reports to the Department from local education authorities indicate that by no means all of these schools had to close altogether.
It is estimated that about 600 schools in England were closed for part or in a few cases the whole of 26 February, the day on which the National Association of Schoolmasters/Union of Women Teachers called a national half-day strike. In addition the education of many thousands of children has been disrupted in other schools as a result of action short of strikes called by the National Union of Teachers. The Government deplore the fact that children's education is being disrupted in this way.