GMB steps up the fight to protect teaching assistants jobs with petition at York school on Wednesday November 13

GMB, the union for school support staff, plans to ask parents, and others to sign a petition on Wednesday 13 November outside Scarcroft Primary School in York to protest at Education Secretary Michael Gove's plans to axe teaching assistants.

The details about gathering signatures are as follows:

From 2.30pm to 3.15pm on Wednesday 13th November
at Scarcroft Primary School, Moss Street, York Y023 1BS

The GMB campaign in support of teaching assistants began in June 2013 after the publication of stories in the Sunday Times and Daily Mail about discussions between the Department of Education and the Treasury concerning the possibility of axing 232,000 teaching assistants from schools across the country.

GMB aims to gather a mass petition from parents, grandparents, teaching assistants, teachers and heads over the next month. Last week on Wednesday 6th November GMB received great support for the petition at Poppleton Road Primary School in York. GMB will hand the petition to the government which by then is expected to contain hundreds of thousands of signatures.

Steve Huckerby, GMB Organiser for schools in the York City Council, said,“This is a vicious attack on one of the most valued bodies of workers in the UK. Ask any head or teacher how they would manage without the teaching assistants and they will tell you that they couldn't.

Teaching assistants provide a valuable contribution to a child's education and the role must be fought for and protected. Axing these jobs is a crazy idea and if it happens the impact on our children's education will be horrendous.

It seems inconceivable that children with learning difficulties in main stream schools would be left unsupported.

There is an army of concerned parents and school staff who are ready and able to fight against this proposal and GMB plan to mobilise this opposition.”