TAVISTOCK and Okehampton Colleges are closed today (Thursday) as part of a nationwide protest by teachers over pay writes Alison Stephenson. Many schools across the country are closed or only open to certain year groups as members of the National Union of Teachers (NUT) take strike action to protest at their below inflation rate pay award for 2008. Okehampton and Tavistock colleges are open for sixth form students only while Callington Community College will be open to all students except those in years 7 and 9. Milton Abbot and Highampton Primary Schools are among 15 primaries which will be closed out of 320 across Devon and five classes at Tavistock Primary School will be affected by the strike. Ten primary schools in Cornwall will be closed including Stoke Climsland. Okehampton College principal Daryll Chapman said the decision had been taken to close the school before the Easter holidays so parents had a chance to sort out any necessary childminding arrangements. 'The decision to close was based on the fact that quite a significant proportion of our teachers are part of the NUT,' he said. 'We have worked with our colleagues to see if there is any possibility of keeping specific year groups up and running, but we are not in a position to do that because of health and safety and the level of oversight we have to give to the students' supervision.' Local NUT secretary David Clinch said the strike action was very much a last resort. Mr Clinch said: 'Teachers have not taken national strike action over pay for 21 years and are sad to have to be doing so now. 'However, after several years of below inflation pay rises, it is necessary to take a stand and say 'enough is enough', as we cannot stand by and see our wages continue to fall in real terms any longer.' He said teacher frustration was added to by the failure of attempts to reduce workload and increasing class sizes in many schools. A spokesperson for Devon County Council said the decisions to close schools had been taken by the headteachers in discussion with the governors. The spokesman said: 'Headteachers are trying to keep schools open but the safety of the children is paramount and if there are not enough teachers to look after the children a decision has been taken to close it.' A spokeswoman for Cornwall County Council said three secondary schools were closed in the county but her understanding was that the rest were offering some kind of partial opening. 'Many secondary schools are only open for examination classes,' she said.
