Teachers strikes: NEU members to walk out on World Book Day - is the event still on?

Thousands of teachers are set to strike again next week on Thursday, March 2 - but it’s a strike day that will have an even bigger impact than usual as the industrial action falls onWorld Book Day. TheNational Education Union (NEU)voted in favour of the regional strike action which will take place across the South West and South East of England as well as London in a long-standing dispute over pay.

World Book Dayis an important event on the school calendar that sees children dress up as their favourite fictional characters from books. Pupils in the UK are also given a voucher to spend on “£1 books” as part of the event, a scheme that has been running since 1998.

Some schools encourage children to take part in a particular theme. This year’s theme is You Are A Reader, which encourages children from disadvantaged backgrounds to read.

It’s not known whether schools will celebrateWorld Book Dayon a different date or call the event off altogether. But a statement on theWorld Book Daywebsite is urging schools to hold the event on another day that works best for them.

It reads: “World Book Dayencourages children to develop a love of reading every day of the year. World Book Day is on Thursday, March 2 this year, but schools and nurseries are always able to hold their World Book Day events and activities whenever works best for their communities.

“TheWorld Book Daywebsite provides a huge range of events, resources and materials for teachers and families to support their encouragement of reading for pleasure, all year round.” Meanwhile, it’s looking unlikely that theNEUwill call next week’s strike off. It said last week that despite steps being taken by theDepartment of Education, a compromise that both sides are happy with is a long way off.

World Book Day£1/€1.50 book tokens can still be exchanged for a£1/€1.50 bookfrom February 16 to March 26. For more information, visit theWorld Book Day website.