"I have been a teacher for 15 years - this is why we are striking"

Steven Longden has been a teacher for 15 years. It's a job he truly adores, passing on his wealth of knowledge to students in the classroom and helping to shape the society of the future.

But, like many of his colleagues, he will be walking out today, July 5, and also on Friday, in an ongoing dispute over fair pay and funding. It will cause disruption across the region, leaving many students without their teachers and possibly forcing some schools to close.

It is not a decision made lightly, but rather reluctantly, keeping in sight the 'bigger picture' and the future of teaching, Steven explains. Teachers in the NEU (National Education Union) will be standing firmly on picket lines in a 'fight to win a fully funded, above-inflation pay rise for all educators.'

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Steven, 53, a teacher at Chorlton High School for eight years, painted a grim and challenging picture of the profession in 2023. Years of budget cuts, he says, has not only resulted in below inflation rates of pay for teachers, but schools being forced to also cut vital and essential services that is hindering its students.

It means newly-trained teachers quickly become desperate to leave, unable to ever get on the housing ladder, with many getting better paid jobs overseas. And for the more experienced teachers, they are often facing redundancies or opting for early retirement in the wake of such decline.

"I have been a teacher since 2010, and during that time I have seen year in and year out cuts to school budgets," he tells the Manchester Evening News. "There has been a constant pressure on headteachers to cut back budgets. As teachers, we have also had the