TEACHERS in Wales will go on strike later this week, demanding better pay and conditions.

Members of the National Education Union here will walk out on Thursday after rejecting the Welsh Government's latest pay rise offer.

More strikes are scheduled for March 15 and 16.

It means schools across Gwent could be hit with disruption, including full closures, if there aren't enough staff on Thursday.

Schools to close?

Strikes at the start of February caused widespread paralysis in classrooms, as each of Gwent's five councils was forced to close at least some of its schools.

Councils are currently finding out how many classrooms will be affected on March 2 before they make any announcements about school closures.

The NEU rejected a recent government pay offer as "simply not good enough" to help teachers through the current economic problems.

Teachers previously told the Argus low pay was having a knock-on effect on recruitment and worker retention, piling pressure on staff.

'Clear mandate' for more strikes

NEU joint general-secretary Kevin Courtney said the union had postponed strikes on Valentine's Day "in good faith" while its members weighed up the government's improved offer.

But teachers had since "emphatically informed us that the offer of an additional 1.5 per cent added to teachers' pay, plus an additional 1.5 per cent lump-sum, is simply not good enough and fails to address either the cost-of-living crisis, spiralling inflation, nor the damage done to pay since 2010", he said.

"We have a clear mandate for strike action that is now rescheduled for March 2 in schools across Wales," Mr Courtney added.

'Strong' offer to teachers

The Welsh Government has defended the offer as "a strong one" in the context of a "reducing" budget for the devolved administration.

"Everyone recognises the excellent work of our workforce, but they also recognise the challenging financial constraints we are operating in", a government spokesperson said, adding the recent offer was "the equivalent of an eight per cent pay rise".

Time is also of the essence, the government spokesperson added.

"For teachers to be able to benefit from an additional backdated pay rise for 2022-23 an agreement will be needed by mid-March," they explained.

NEU Wales secretary David Evans, however, said the government's offers "still fall short of our members' expectations and needs".

Mr Evans said the union had "clear" demands and would meet with the education minister "as often as necessary in order to seek to secure a deal that will resolve all issues".