Teachers are to go on strike for three days this month and next month at three Sussex sixth form colleges.
Their union, the National Education Union (NEU), said that members would strike over pay and funding at Richard Collyer’s College, Horsham, Varndean College, Brighton, and BHASVIC (Brighton, Hove And Sussex VI Form College), Hove.
The union said: “The NEU represents most staff at the colleges and has won a resounding 97 per cent vote in favour of strike action by its members who teach in sixth form colleges across England.
“Teachers at Collyer’s, BHASVIC and Varndean will join colleagues across 32 colleges around the country whose colleges face cuts to their pay and funding in comparison to maintained schools.
“This follows the anomaly that funding for the teacher pay award of 5.5 per cent has not been given to sixth form colleges.
“This means that colleges that have seen their funding cut in real terms year after year will either be unable to fund the same pay rise as other teachers or face unacceptable cuts to their budgets.
“Despite efforts by the NEU to resolve the dispute through seeking assurances from the Secretary of State for Education that sixth form colleges could utilise the additional funding allocated to the sector in the budget for staff pay, no such clarification has been received.”
The strikes are scheduled to take place on Thursday (28 November) and next week on Tuesday (3 December) and Wednesday (4 December).
The NEU said that teachers and supporters were expected to picket the entrances of BHASVIC and Varndean from 7.45am to 9.30am.
NEU senior regional officer Nick Childs said: “No teacher strikes lightly. NEU members at Collyer’s, Varndean and BHASVIC are dedicated to their college, their students and the community they serve.
“The National Education Union has made every effort to resolve this dispute and we call upon the Secretary of State to rectify this injustice where non-academised sixth form colleges and their teachers are treated unfairly in comparison with colleges in maintained schools and academised colleges.
“The new government has rightly recognised that education funding and teacher pay have been eroded for years and that this has led to a crisis in teacher retention, larger class sizes and fewer resources for students.
“Collyer’s, Varndean and BHASVIC are three of 40 sixth form colleges to have been disadvantaged. Our staff, students and communities deserve better.
“National Education Union members at all three colleges are taking strike action to defend their colleges and support their community.
“They are determined to fight for fair pay and fair funding and will stand firm until their colleges receive the funding they so richly deserves.”
