LIVE: Teachers across Greater Manchester strike over pay

Teachers across Greater Manchester are taking to the picket lines today for sixth time in a dispute over pay and conditions. The National Education Union (NEU) and government are in a stalemate.

The current deal on the table would see teachers net a one-off payment of £1,000 this year and an average pay rise of 4.5 per cent in 2023 to 2024.

Schools are expected to fund 4pc of the rise from their own budgets, with the government providing the additional 0.5pc.

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Peter Middleman, the National Education Union's north west regional secretary, has already warned that 'this dispute is not going away', with the NEU and other teaching unions now planning further strike action for the autumn term.

Preparing to join today's strike, one teacher told us how she is 'always spending money [she doesn't] have' by having to buy resources for school.

"I buy felt tips, pens, poster paper, marking equipment, whiteboard pens, you name it," said the teacher, who did not want to be named. It’s much easier to buy my own resources than ask for funding because it takes them so long to get back to me and it’s almost always a 'no'."

She told the M.E.N. each department has a budget, with her department, PE, 'definitely down in the pecking order'.

Education Secretary Gillian Keegan has described the ongoing strikes as 'extremely disappointing'.

“After costing children almost a week of time in the classroom and with exams fast approaching, it is extremely disappointing that the NEU have called more strike action," she said.

A Department for Education spokesperson said: “Any strike action is hugely damaging. We have made a fair and reasonable pay offer to teachers recognising their