Revolutionary Socialism in the 21st Century
 
Revolutionary
Socialism in the
21st Century

Articles >

education

University fees crisis

UCU members explain the challenges of organising in the face of the market-driven crisis affecting education, which affects students and university workers alike. 

Teacher and support staff pay deals: the questions we need to ask

The questions we need to ask about the teacher and support staff pay deals in England

Sussex Academy Trust faces strike from angry workforce – UBAT strike report

Lou Hayton reports from one of the picket lines where Sussex NEU members are fighting back against the University of Brighton Academies Trust

Report from the 2024 UCU Congress

rs21 members in UCU report on the recent Congress of the Further and Higher Education workers union

Latest Department of Education advice is a transphobic attack

“Educators must register their disgust at the guidance while it is in the consultation phase.”

Without organisation, we have nothing: building a rank and file organisation in schools

After a momentous year of workplace struggles, rs21 teachers discuss the need for ongoing rank and file organisation across schools

Why Palestine is an issue for educators

rs21 teachers argue why educators across the country have a duty to talk about Palestine.

School strikes: we must escalate to win

Teachers’ pay – escalate to win in the autumn!

School strikes update: what we need to do to win

The NEU has called new strikes in England on 5 and 7 July in pursuit of their pay claim. Here’s how we win the dispute.

NEU demo

Prepare for more school strikes

We need more than this offer – and a better deal can be won.

NEU members march with banner reading "schools need £2 billion now"

School staff: how we organised to win our dispute

NEU members united the staff group in their school and won a strike ballot

Teachers picket outside a school in Edinburgh, holding placards saying 'Pay Attent10n'. The morning sky is still dark.

50 shades of luminous: the Scottish teachers’ strikes

‘A win for the teachers will act as a beacon and galvanise the wider strike wave.’ Nick Cimini reports on the teachers’ strike in Scotland.

NEU members on a demo with balloon

NEU joins the fight: five ways to build the strike

Real world tips on what to do in your school.

Image shows NEU graphic saying '2 days to post your ballot' in pink and yellow.

School strikes: organise now for the picket lines

Andy Cunningham calls on any NEU members who have not voted to do so now, and discusses the next steps for the strikes.

Image shows an empty classroom from the back, stacked tightly with over 30 chairs.

Work in schools? Vote yes in the NEU ballot!

Teacher and NEU activist Andy Cunningham argues that it’s time for strike action.

Universities battles ahead – UCU Congress 2022

The University and College Union (UCU), which organises teachers, researchers and some support staff in further and higher education, held its annual congress earlier this month. Two rs21 members who were delegates report on the key debates.

Striking NEU members with the Girls Day School Trust (GDST) at a rally in parliament square on 22 February 2022.

The GDST pensions strike – a balance sheet

Earlier this year there was a big strike at the Girl’s Day School Trust (GDST) chain of independent schools over attacks on teachers’ pension rights. rs21 and NEU member Luigi Brindisi, one of the strikers, looks at the outcome of the dispute and draws some lessons.

Rally of striking NEU members with the Girls Day School Trust (GDST) in Parliament square in February 2022.

Standing up for education – NEU Conference 2022 report

An unpredictable conference of the National Education Union showed an instinctive aversion to oppression and a desire to take action, but competing visions and priorities about how to deliver it. Conference delegates John Stephens and Andrew Stone report (in a personal capacity).

Image shows a red-filtered photo of a laundrette, empty except for one woman in the background.

The double shift: talking childcare and gender in the pandemic

As many nations re-enter lockdown, Kate Bradley interviews two rs21 members on their experiences with childcare, work and gender during Covid lockdowns.

Photo shows a view of Croydon High School, one of the schools in the Girls Day School Trust (GDST) which is currently balloting for strike action over pensions.

Private sector teachers fight back against fire & rehire

Over a thousand NEU members have voted to strike in an indicative ballot over an attack on pensions in 23 private schools.

Placards. Chalk on wall reads: staff deserve fair pay & pensions

Strikes coming in Higher Education?

Grant Buttars discusses the UCU ballot results and prospects for action.

Covid crisis in schools: we need safety measures now

The way to keep children safe and stop the disruption is not to abandon mitigation, but to go for a strategy to stop Covid ripping through schools.

Siedlung Riedhof West

Revolutionary Reflections | New Frankfurt and the Housing Question

1920s Frankfurt, in the wake of the 1918 German Revolution, established integrated housing, healthcare and education that is still impressive today.

Image shows picketing workers at Go North West with a anner that reads Our Key Workers Deserve Better.

Ten strikes that need your solidarity

As strike activity ramps up again, rs21 brings together ten strikes you should know about this month. At the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic there was a short period where no strikes happened anywhere in the UK, perhaps for the first time in decades. This was due to several factors: balloting companies were unavailable, there […]

Books in a school library. Keywords: school closures closed NEU National Education Union strike

Next steps in the fight for safe schools

The government’s retreat on school closures won’t last forever. Education workers need to go on the offensive.

Image of a school with coronavirus images superimposed

NEU: preparing for the fight of our lives

Supporting teachers to refuse unsafe work is the NEU’s immediate and overwhelming priority, but we also need to learn the lessons from last June and ballot for strike action.

Why schools must prepare to run remotely until half term

The government’s mass testing plan will not make schools Covid-secure. Schools cannot fully reopen safely until case numbers have been brought down.

Scotland: education workers move towards strike action

Workers at all levels of Scotland’s education system are preparing to fight for workplace safety and job security.

An empty classroom. Keywords: school schools reopening Covid NEU safety safe

To beat Covid, we have to fight for safe schools

While politicians squabble over degrees of lockdown, Covid is spreading in educational settings. Education workers must force the politicians to make their schools safe.

‘The fight of our lives’ | Interview with Marian Mayer

Marian Mayer, candidate for Vice President of UCU, spoke to rs21 about the fightback in the higher and further education sectors