Teachers ought to get day off for Glastonbury Festival, says head of greatest educating union
Teachers should be given time off to attend Glastonbury music festival, the head of Britain’s largest teaching union has said.
Daniel Kebede, general secretary of the National Education Union (NEU), said schools must give ‘greater flexibility’ to teachers to allow them to take time off during term time.
The union baron – who is preparing to ask members if they want to strike over pay and workload – said he complained about not being able to go to Glastonbury when he was a teacher.
Teachers get 13 weeks off a year but Glastonbury takes place during term time, from Wednesday to Sunday in late June, meaning they cannot attend the whole event without missing school.
Mr Kebede told The House magazine: ‘We do need to find ways to inject greater flexibility into teaching.
‘Not being able to go to Glastonbury, actually, was something I always complained about as a teacher…
‘You do have some schools that will come to some accommodation around some of these things. We want to see that become the norm much more.’
However the Conservatives last night branded this ‘preposterous’ and said teachers should not be able to ‘skip class and go partying’.
NEU General Secretary Daniel Kebede has said that teachers should be given time off to attend Glastonbury music festival
Teachers get 13 weeks off a year but Glastonbury takes place during term time, from Wednesday to Sunday in late June, meaning they cannot attend the whole event without missing school
Mr Kebede, who previously taught at a primary school in the north east, was elected as head of the NEU in 2023. He has been a controversial figure, and in 2021 he attended a pro-Palestine rally where he said it was ‘about time we globalise the intifada’. However he has since distanced himself from the remarks.
His comments come ahead of the NEU balloting members at the end of February on whether they want to strike over pay, funding and workload.
Tory chairman Kevin Hollinrake said: ‘It’s preposterous to suggest teachers should have time off to go to Glastonbury.
‘Greater flexibility around maternity leave and time off for ill health are one thing, but giving teachers the green light to skip class and go partying is quite another.
‘The National Education Union’s focus should be on helping teachers deliver the best possible education for our children. It should not be pushing for staff to be able to attend term-time festivals.’
Mr Kebede’s also used the interview to aim a broadside at Labour, suggesting that the NEU and the Government are ‘on a collision course’ and that the union is ‘still on a direction of travel this year for industrial action’.
And he criticised the ‘plenty of instances where the government has U-turned on its decisions’, adding: ‘I’m not sure anybody entirely trusts government to not change its mind.’
Mr Kebede also claimed schools were on the front line in the battle against Reform UK, adding: ‘Schools have become a bit of a battleground for Reform in terms of the narrative that they’re pushing.’
He said: ‘I have real concerns around a Reform government, artificial intelligence, Farage’s links to Elon Musk – the Trumpians, essentially.
‘And I would like to see all education workers, really, in a trade union, to ensure that we can mount an appropriate defence if needs be.’
