Protesters gather outside the Department of Health to protest against public sector pay restraint [Image: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Barcroft].

Education Secretary Justine Greening said the pay recommendation came from the School Teachers Review Body – but we all know that the STRB is restricted by orders from the government, and cannot recommend a pay rise of more than one per cent.

Meanwhile there is a steady flow of teachers moving out of the profession, because they simply cannot afford to carry on under a government that treats them so poorly.

Ms Greening and minority prime minister Theresa May have been accused of insulting teachers with this derisory increase.

Here’s how the BBC reported it:

Teachers’ pay in England and Wales will have to stay within austerity pay limits – with another year of increases restricted to 1%.

It will mean another real-terms pay cut for more than 500,000 teachers in England and Wales.

The pay review body – which was obliged to keep pay rises to 1% – has expressed its concern.

The cap on pay, initially of 0% and then 1%, has been in place since 2010, as part of austerity measures.

The National Union of Teachers says that successive years of below-inflation pay deals has seen teachers’ pay fall in real terms by 13%

The School Teachers’ Review Body is an independent pay body that provides recommendations to ministers about the pay of more than 500,000 teachers in England and Wales.

But for the past seven years decisions have been determined by the government’s limit on public sector pay.

The review body made its recommendation in line with the limits on public sector pay, but warned ministers of potential problems of teacher shortages and funding pressures.

The Guardian added:

Labour said the government was causing a recruitment crisis in schools by holding down pay, while the award was described as “an insult” by the Liberal Democrats.

And here’s how Twitter responded:

And Shadow Education Secretary Angela Rayner had a few things to say:

The simple fact is that Tory-voting adults have asked for the government to harm the education of their children.

They voted for teachers’ pay to be cut.

They voted for good teachers to leave the profession.

So they voted for their children to receive an inferior education.

Let us hope that these adults can learn a lesson from the experience!

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