The sheer number present on the day, estimated at half a million, points to organisational acumen and bodes well for developing the movement, says DIANE ABBOTT
Teachers’ goodwill hangs by a thread
With Covid-19 cases rising in schools and the testing system buckling, educators are under increasing strain. Now is time for a fair reward for teachers writes ROBERT POOLE
A packed fringe meeting at the National Education Union conference heard from Iranian teachers, campaigners and journalists
CLAUDIA WEBBE says the US is tightening the noose to destroy Cuban socialism — the need for immediate, international solidarity is urgent
MAT COWARD recommends a crop that keeps growing well under drought conditions
Cypriot lawyer and former central committee member of the Progressive Working People’s Party (Akel) TOUMAZOS TSIELEPIS discusses the case for expelling the British military from Cyprus
US aggression has plunged us into an energy price crisis that will spark steep inflation across the board — and the shock will be much worse than in the 1970s, warns MICHAEL BURKE
SCHOOLS are back and the coronavirus is on the rise again. All around the country, teachers are trying to make sense of the new regulations to ensure that they and their pupils are safe: year-group “bubbles,” masks in communal spaces, teaching from a small box at the front of the class — the challenges are immense.
But every teacher I know is glad to be back at the chalk face. We’ve missed the interaction with our classes and we know that, for some pupils, school is the one safe place they have.
The one place where they can escape the grinding poverty forced upon them by a decade of Tory austerity. The one place they can get a warm meal.
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The NEU’s annual conference promises heated debate, with motions on international politics, curriculum reform and union amalgamation likely to provoke strong reactions and challenge the status quo, writes Education for Tomorrow editor ROBERT POOLE
The series unveils uncomfortable truths about youth alienation and online radicalisation — but the real crisis lies in austerity and the absence of class consciousness in addressing young people’s disillusionment, says teacher ROBERT POOLE