National union of Teachers (NUT) members are going on strike about pensions, pay, workload and the test culture.

Teachers will take action in large numbers across the country on March 26 and the NUT are calling on school union groups to set up picket lines.

Members of the NUT raised awareness of the upcoming event by leafleting in Acton High Street last Saturday (March 8), and they will be doing the same in Ealing Broadway on March 22.

Ealing NUT secretary Stefan Simms said the response from the public last weekend was ‘unsurprisingly fantastic’ and that teachers who are not with the NUT should join and participate in the strike.

Mr Simms said: “Teachers are expected to work until they are 68, but the pension fund is £44billion in credit, which means there’s more than enough money to pay teachers at 60 years old.

“We have had a 15 per cent pay cut in real terms over the past five years, whereas most workers in the UK have suffered a nine per cent cut.”

Pensions and pay were outlined as the two formal reasons for the action but Mr Simms said it is also about the Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove and what he is doing to education.

Mr Simms, said: “Gove wants to test children at the age of four.

“They are taking the joy out of learning and putting pressure on children; passing tests is not an education or an understanding of a subject.

“SATS do not happen in Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland, so why are they happening in England?”

Mr Simms said trying to get pupils through exams is increasing the workload for teachers and that Department of Education figures, published a week ago, show that teachers are now working an average of 60 hours a week.

Angie Bray, Conservative MP for Ealing Central and Acton, said that any strike by teachers during school term is a real problem for not only the children but their parents, who often have to take a day off work when their children should be at school.

She said: “Teachers have gone on strike several times now on the issue of pensions, but there are many people working in the private sector who would consider that teachers are well looked after in comparison with their own arrangements.

“I think teachers should put the interests of their pupils first.”

The NUT national conference will take place over the Easter weekend.