"Teachers across the North have spoken with one voice, and they have my full support,” Gerry Carroll said, following news that five teaching unions in the north have voted decisively to strike if the Department fails to address grievances over workload.
“Anyone who knows a teacher knows how impossible this job has become, including pastoral care, safeguarding and SEN needs going unmet because the support simply isn't there. Principals are telling us they no longer have time to lead their own schools, while teachers are holding the education system together with their own unpaid hours. They are doing so in a context where classroom budgets are squeezed year after year.”
“The Independent Review of Workload reported in November 2025. Ten months on, its 27 recommendations still are not implemented. It is laughable that Paul Givan considers this 'significant progress' on addressing workload”.
“This is part of a pattern on the part of the Education Minister. His RAISE scheme funded one of the most affluent schools in the region - in his own constituency - while schools with 60% of pupils on free school meals were left out. He refused to restore holiday hunger payments, but had time for an Israeli government-funded trip to a school on occupied Palestinian land.”
“The Minister must deliver for teachers and address their unbearable workload once and for all.”