A SOUTH Scotland MSP has said that striking teachers are the backbone of every community in Ayrshire.

Last week South Scotland MSP Carol Mochan joined the large Educational Institute of Scotland rally outside Holyrood to show solidarity with teachers across the region and the entirety of the country.

Scotland’s largest teaching union and smaller unions are taking planned industrial action over a number of dates across the coming months to in attempt to force authorities to offer a 10 per cent pay rise to make up for lost earnings due to inflation.

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Thousands of teachers walked out on Thursday, November 24 in the first national strike action for teachers in four decades, leading to the closure of every state school on the Scottish mainland.

Ms Mochan said: “I have met so many teachers across Ayrshire over recent months who tell me that they are looking after kids who are often coming in hungry and then they are going home to their own families worried about whether they can afford heating or the fuel for their car to get to work.

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"How can that be the state of affairs we find ourselves in, this is a wealthy country.

“The teachers on strike are only asking for what they deserve and I simply will not let their concerns be brushed under the carpet by a government that is not listening.

"Our teachers are the backbone of every community in Ayrshire, they deserve a fair deal.”