Ulster Unionist Party leader and Education spokesperson Jon Burrows MLA has said teachers have been left with no option but to take industrial action, after nearly a year of consultation on workload failed to deliver meaningful change in classrooms.

Teachers across Northern Ireland will begin action short of strike on Monday 28 September, after unions and employers failed to agree how to implement the recommendations of the Independent Review of Workload.

Jon Burrows said:

"Teachers do not take industrial action lightly. That they have reached this point tells you everything about the pressure they are under.

"Workloads have become unmanageable. Teachers are giving up their evenings, weekends and family time simply to keep up, and many experienced staff are asking whether they can stay in the profession at all.

"The Independent Review of Workload was published last November. Almost a year on, teachers have seen round after round of consultation, meetings and discussion papers, but very little that has made a practical difference in their classrooms. Consultation is not a substitute for delivery, and teachers' patience has run out.

"While the immediate impact on pupils should be limited, parents will rightly be concerned about where this goes next. Teachers hold a mandate for strike action, and if this dispute is allowed to drag on, it is children's education that will ultimately suffer.

"The best way to protect children's education is to resolve this dispute quickly. I implore the Education Minister to get back around the table, agree a clear and time-bound plan to implement the review's recommendations in full, and show teachers that change is finally coming."