EC1 schools hit by strike

Protesters from Islington on the march

More than half of Islington’s schools stayed closed last Thursday as hundreds of teachers joined protests against pension cuts.
Around four schools based in EC1 were shut for the day because of the march that started at London School of Economics and finished at the doors of the Parliament.
Although the demonstration was announced by the Islington Council, some parents were facing problems of having their children at home; gathered in the playground of Myddelton Square, they had divided views about the closure.
Vanessa O’Sullivan, a dental assistant and single mother from Clerkenwell, who had to take a day off work because she couldn’t find a childcare, said: “I think it’s irresponsible to do this on a weekday and I don’t understand why some schools can stay open and others not.”
Rachel Black, former teacher and full-time mother of two, said: “Teachers have the right to protest and it doesn’t disturb me too much, if I would be working, I would probably go on strike myself.”
Renas, 8, attends the Clerkenwell Parochial C E Primary School; one of the schools that remained open during the protest. Renas’s parents would have preferred that the teachers would protest instead of teaching today.
Isabel, Renas’s mother, said: “If they don’t stand up for their rights now and my son becomes a teacher, he would have to suffer a low income in the future.”
The protest involved up to 750,000 teachers and other workers across England under which 24 people were arrested in London.