BBC Breakfast viewers on Saturday slammed presenter Naga Munchetty for her “poorly worded” comment on child safety during teachers’ strikes.
The journalist, 47, and co-host Charlie Stayt, 60, discussed the upcoming industrial action due to take place in England and Wales next week.
However, viewers branded the segment “biased” after Naga merely referred to schools as “alternative childcare,” while others accused the show of “slandering” teachers.
Hitting out: BBC Breakfast viewers hit out at presenter Naga Munchetty, 47, for her ‘poorly worded’ comment on Saturday’s teachers’ strike (pictured with co-host Charlie Stayt, 60)
She raised the issue of safety over the number of teachers taking industrial action and asked education journalist Grainne Hallahan, “Are schools required to tell you whether they are open or not?”.
She continued: “The problem is that there is obviously massive disruption to parents and children as their education is being disrupted.
“And for vulnerable children, these breakfast clubs, after-school clubs for those for whom school is a sanctuary and a place of safety?”.
Picket line: Viewers branded the segment “biased” after Naga merely referred to schools as “alternative childcare,” while others accused the show of “denigrating” teachers
Taking to Twitter, a viewer wrote: “@BBCBreakfast Naga speaks about the impact of strikes on parents who need to make alternative ‘childcare’ arrangements. I’m all teachers happy to be seen by #BBCBreakfast just as child care.
Before you add: “Badly put.”
While another said: “It looks like BBC Breakfast got the memo to smear teachers for going on strike today and are taking the story forward on how this is affecting parents. It causes disruption, that’s the very point of strikes.
Unhappy: Journalist and co-host Charlie Stayt opened up about the upcoming industrial action due to take place in England and Wales next week
A third added: “Alternative” childcare? For real? We are educators, not childcare workers. Yes, parents must find childcare in the event of a strike, but it will not be an ‘alternative’. Please think about your story.
While a fourth commented, “Not sure I like the ‘teachers don’t come up’ line by Charlie Stayt which makes it sound more casual than a difficult decision to go on strike.”
And another accused the show of an “incredibly and shockingly biased portrayal of teachers’ strikes.”
Unhappy: Taking to Twitter, a viewer wrote: “@BBCBreakfast Naga speaks about the impact of strikes on parents who need to make alternative ‘childcare’ arrangements. I’m all teachers happy to be seen as just child care by #BBCBreakfast.
Thousands of teachers will go on strike over pay in February and March consecutive leaders of the National Education Union (NEU), the country’s largest teachers’ union, will launch strike action after electing its 300,000 members.
Nine out of ten teachers in the NEU voted to strike, and the union achieved the 50 percent turnout required by law.
The first day of strikes will be February 1, with more than 23,000 schools across England and Wales expected to be affected. Further industrial action will take place on February 14, March 15 and March 16. Teachers in a number of regions will also go on strike on February 28 and March 1 and 2.
Beat! Thousands of teachers will go on strike over pay in February and March consecutive leaders of the National Education Union (NEU), the country’s largest teachers’ union, will launch strike action after electing its 300,000 members
But while school heads in Wales will also go on strike over pay and funding, school heads in England will not go on strike after turnout from the NAHT union fell short of the legal threshold.
Meanwhile, the NEU says there will be seven days of strikes in February and March, but added that each individual school will only be affected by four of the days.
In England, 90 per cent of the NEU teachers who voted supported strikes, with a turnout of 53 per cent. In Wales, 92 per cent of the NEU teachers who voted supported strikes, with a turnout of 58 per cent.
But the children’s commissioner has warned that a strike would hurt vulnerable students who are still recovering from the effects of the pandemic.
Dame Rachel de Souza said children couldn’t afford to allocate any more class time just as they were getting back to school after the Covid lockdown.
A total of 300,000 teachers and support staff across England and Wales were asked to take part in the NEU vote.
Support staff in schools in Wales will also go on strike amid a dispute over pay after 88 per cent of elected members backed an action with a turnout of 51 per cent.
The complete list of strike days of the NEU
The NEU has said teaching staff at sixth form colleges in England who have already been elected and who have been striking in recent months will also be striking these days in a separate but related dispute with the Foreign Secretary.
The full list of strike days:
– Wednesday 1 February: All eligible members in England and Wales.
– Tuesday 14 February: All eligible members in Wales.
– Tuesday 28th February: All eligible members in the Northern, North West, Yorkshire & The Humber regions.
– Wednesday 1 March: All eligible members in the East Midlands, West Midlands and Eastern regions.
– Thursday 2 March: All eligible members in the London, South East and South West regions.
Wednesday 15 March: All eligible members in England and Wales.
Thursday 16 March: All eligible members in England and Wales.