Sinn Féin MLA Pat Sheehan has expressed his support for teachers who are set to go on strike for the first time in five years in a dispute over pay.

Pat Sheehan said:

“The teaching workforce play an invaluable role in the education of our children.

“Teachers are entitled to fair pay and conditions.

“Teachers shouldn’t have to strike at a time when workers, including teachers, are facing the biggest squeeze on their finances in a generation due to the cost of living crisis.

“A decade of Tory austerity has also caused significant pressures within education and schools.

“The Department of Education and the employing authorities need to engage meaningfully with teachers and their representative bodies to ensure a fair pay settlement can be reached.

“The DUP also need to get back to work around the Executive table, along with other parties, so that locally elected ministers can do their best to support our children, families and teachers.”