Head teachers back walkout by pupils over climate change

THE headteachers’ union has said it “applauds” a pupil strike that will see thousands of schoolchildren walk out of lessons to protest against climate change.

The mass strike, organised by teenagers and called UK Youth Strike For Climate, is scheduled this Friday between 11am and 2pm. Children from schools in 27 UK towns and cities – including Cardiff, Brighton, Exeter and Glasgow – have pledged to strike.

The National Association of Head Teachers said in a statement: “When you get older pupils making an informed decision, that kind of thing needs to be applauded. Society makes leaps forward when people are prepared to take action.”

However, others called the action “playing truant”, adding that pupils would take any chance to miss school.

William Wragg, the Tory MP and a former teacher, told the Sunday Express: “I would not encourage a walkout, it’s far more fruitful to learn about climate change in school.”

Toby Young, a former director of the New Schools Network, said: “This is just truanting.”

The strike organisers said they were inspired by similar protests in Sweden.

Jake Woodier, of the UK Youth Climate Coalition, which is helping to coordinate the action, told The Guardian: “The images of what Greta [Thunberg, a 16-year-old Swedish climate change activist] did and then the huge strikes … in other countries have been widely shared by young people on social media and have really inspired people.”