Teachers strike over job cuts

Schools were hit by a teachers' strike today for the first time this year.

Children were sent home at lunchtime by at least 50 schools in Croydon as more than 500 teachers attended a rally against threatened job cuts.

Unions warned it could be the first in a series of disputes as fears grow that schools will run out of money before the end of the academic year. The National Union of Teachers, which called the strike, claimed 160 teaching and support staff jobs could be lost.

Croydon was one of the worst-hit boroughs in last year's school budgets crisis, which saw thousands of teaching posts disappear as heads ran out of money. Last summer Edenham High School sent 700 children home on one day, saying it could not afford to pay supply teachers.

Croydon is to get £2.6million more this year from ministers. But the authority - which meets tonight to set its council tax - says it needs £6million to deliver a government pledge that spending in each school will rise by four per cent.

A spokesman said it expected at least 20 schools would face a deficit in the year from April. But he said the NUT's claim over job losses was speculative.

Croydon is the first borough to warn of significant difficulties for schools in the coming financial year. Other councils will set their budgets over the next fortnight.

Schools are expected to take every step to avoid redundancies or job losses through natural wastage.

Teaching at universities across England was halted today as lecturers took action over pay and students protested against tuition fees.