The walk-out of schoolchildren in Australia, protesting against government inaction on climate change (video below), reminded me of various school children's protests in this country over the years. Back in 1911 there were school children's strikes at a time of widepsread militancy and their demands included ending corporal punishment LINK.
The walkout above, in 1988, was by Neasden High School pupils who marched to protest at Brent Town Hall. Neasden High School was in Quainton Street and according to local historians was partly created to absorb Asian refugees families. The school was closed and demolished in 1989. More recently there were walk-outs by secondary school students over the Iraq war.
30 years after this protest the NEU is balloting for possible strike action over the government's failure to fully fund the recent pay increase and teachers, parents, headteachers and schoolchildren are protesting over the cuts in education funding. Some of the children in the news report may well now have their own children who are affected by the current round of cuts.
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