A half-day strike by teachers across Northern Ireland is taking place today amid a continuing row over pay.
Members of the north's five teaching unions are on strike for 12 hours from midnight on November 29.
The action has led to the closure of many schools, while others will not open until noon.
It will also mark the first of five days of action by the unions, with another four days of industrial action set to take place in the Spring term.
The Northern Ireland Teachers' Council (NITC) last week said the UTU, NASUWT, INTO, NAHT and NEU unions were all involved in the strike.
Head teachers will join the latest strike action for only the second time in their union's 126-year history.
The unions have said that the action was being taken "given that there has been no progress toward a resolution to the ongoing teachers’ pay dispute".
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The strike action follows a half-day of strike action in schools in February and a full day of strike action in schools and Further Education colleges in April.
The NASUWT said its members were taking part "over the failure to offer teachers and Further Education lecturers a fair and decent pay award".
The union is calling for a "fully funded 12% pay award for 2023/24" and is also highlighting the massive pay disparity across the UK.
It said that teachers have already lost thousands of pounds as a result of year-on-year pay cuts and the failure of salaries to keep pace with inflation since 2010.
According to NASUWT research, the last 13 years have seen cuts of 38% to teachers’ pay in real terms.
Justin McCamphill, NASUWT National Official Northern Ireland, said: “Our members have had enough – this is the third teachers strike this year, and members resolve has strengthened since April.
"They do not want to hear any more excuses and are demanding that they are paid the same as any other teacher in the UK.
"A Northern Ireland teacher is not worth less than an English or Scottish teacher.
“The Department of Education and the Department for Economy along with the employers must bring forward a substantially improved pay offer if they want to see an end to these disputes.
“In the absence of an Executive, the UK government must ensure that teachers and lecturers in Northern Ireland are paid the same as their counterparts elsewhere in the UK.”
— INTO-NI (@INTO_NI) November 28, 2023
Mark McTaggart, INTO northern secretary said: "Teachers here are the lowest paid across these islands, with the gap in pay widening over the past three years.
"If those who control the purse strings truly want children and young people to have access to the best possible education available, they must bring about a fair pay settlement for teachers and school leaders.
"Teachers and school leaders have already demonstrated their capacity to fight for a salary that properly reflects their true worth to society, and which allows them to feel valued and respected by those in power.
"It is imperative that we continue this fight, failure to do so has the potential to have a devastating effect on the life chances of the children and young people.”
Unions previously rejected a pay offer from employers for the years 2021-2023, describing it as "inadequate".
Dr Mark Browne, the Department of Education's permanent secretary, has said that the trade unions are "fully aware" a pay offer "can only be made if it is affordable within the allocated budget".
"The department fully understands the frustration of teachers and school leaders over the ongoing absence of a pay offer," he said.
