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Teachers Set For National Strike Over Pay

The National Union of Teachers (NUT) is set for a national walkout in June in a row over pay, pensions and conditions.

Teachers will strike for one day in the week beginning June 23 if "significant" progress is not made to resolve the long-running dispute.

The NUT's 900 delegates voted overwhelmingly for the walkout at the union's annual conference in Brighton, where angry rhetoric was aimed towards Education Secretary Michael Gove.

At one point delegates chanted "Gove must go".

The resolution also opens the possibility of more industrial action in the autumn - and officials are not ruling out walkouts spanning several days.

Delegate Hazel Danson told Sky News: "What we're angry about is not just our pay and conditions, and the pension issue - it's what this Education Secretary is doing to the education of our children.

"It feels like he's putting a wrecking ball through state education.

"We've got a secretary of state who will not engage with us in any constructive way at all. We feel very frustrated about that."

Hundreds of thousands of children across England and Wales could face school closures and disruption to lessons.

Exam timetables show at least a dozen GCSE and A-level papers will be sat on June 23 and 24.

But NUT general secretary Christine Blower insisted "strike action will not disrupt exams".

"If necessary, exemptions can be given to staff who are needed to supervise an exam," she said.

The Department of Education said any strikes would disrupt families and harm children's education.

"Ministers have met frequently with the NUT and other unions and will continue to do so," a spokesman said.

"Further strike action will only disrupt parents' lives, hold back children's education and damage the reputation of the profession.

"We know that the vast majority of our teachers and school leaders are hard-working and dedicated professionals.

"That is why we are giving teachers more freedoms than ever and cutting unnecessary paperwork and bureaucracy."

Approximately one in eight schools in England were forced to close when the NUT staged a one-day strike last month. It is thought many more had to partially close.

Ms Blower admitted parents would be put out.

"Of course parents will say this is inconvenient, it is inconvenient," she said.

"It's actually in the nature of industrial action that you do it because you want to cause inconvenience because you're trying to bring your grievances to people's attention."

The dispute has been going on for two years.