In spite of it being the very end of a long and busy term teachers and educators still found some time and energy to come together yesterday to give Nicky Morgan and George Osborne, and their government, a resounding “No!” to their declared intention of making all schools academies by 2022.
Kevin Courtney, Deputy General Secretary of the NUT, said of the academy proposals
“We have to say no – and we are strong enough to defeat you [the government]. These are the wrong priorities – no democratic mandate, completely chaotic. We stand and we fight. This would be the end of state education in many ways. They will get rid of national pay and conditions, they will remove parents from governing bodies.”
As Kevin also said, this week is only the beginning of our resistance. Following the #tellNickyNO twitterstorm, the momentum must continue.
We wish our colleagues a restful break over the Easter Holiday with a view to coming together afterwards to fight for a national, cohesive and fair state education system that supports the needs of all children and young people.
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Below are our photos from the London march and rally, as well as some quotes from the excellent speakers.
#TellNickyNo
No to Forced Academies. Yes to a Better System of Education in England.
Academies – Democracy, Autonomy, Choice, Privatisation – only one of the above.