BBC Breakfast viewers SLAM Naga Munchetty for her ‘poorly phrased’ comment, calling the show ‘biased’

BBC Breakfast viewers criticized presenter Naga Munchetty on Saturday for her ‘poorly phrased’ comment on child safety during teachers’ strikes.

The journalist, 47, and co-host Charlie Stayt, 60, discussed upcoming industrial action taking place in England and Wales next week.

However, viewers called the segment “biased” after Naga described the schools as simply “alternative childcare”, while others accused the show of “vilifying” teachers.

Raising the issue of safety about the number of teachers doing industrial action, she asked educational journalist Grainne Hallahan: “Do schools have an obligation to tell you if they’re going to be open or not?”

She continued: ‘The problem is that it’s a massive disruption for the parents and for the kids, obviously their education is disrupted.

‘And for vulnerable children, those breakfast clubs, after-school clubs for those for whom school is an escape and a place of safety?’

On Twitter, one viewer wrote: ‘@BBCBreakfast Naga speaking about the impact of the strikes on parents having to make alternative ‘childcare’ arrangements. I’m happy that all teachers are seen by #BBCBreakfast as just babysitting’.

Before adding: ‘Bad post’.

While another said: ‘It seems BBC Breakfast got the memo to vilify teachers for going on strike today, so they are pushing the story on how it affects parents. It causes disruption, that’s entirely the point of strikes.’

A third added: ‘Alternative’ child care? Really? we are educators not child care providers. Yes, parents will have to find child care in the event of a strike, but it will not be an “alternative.” Please consider your narrative.

‘

While a fourth commented: “I’m not sure I like Charlie Stayt’s line, the teachers aren’t going to show up, which makes it sound more casual than a hard decision to go on strike.”

And another accused the program of an “incredibly and shockingly skewed account of teacher strikes.”

Thousands of teachers will go on strike in February and March in line for wages, leaders of the National Education Union (NEU), the country’s largest teachers’ union, will go on strike after voting out its 300,000 members.

Nine out of 10 NEU faculty members voted in favor of the strike and the union approved the 50 percent voter turnout required by law.

The first day of strikes will be February 1 and more than 23,000 schools in England and Wales are expected to be affected. More strikes will take place on February 14, March 15, and March 16. Teachers from various regions will also hold strikes on February 28 and March 1 and 2.

But while school leaders in Wales are also going on strike over pay and funding, head teachers in England will not strike after the NAHT union’s voter turnout fell short of the legal threshold.

Meanwhile, NEU says that seven days of strikes will take place between February and March, but added that any individual school will only be affected for four of the days.

In England, 90 percent of the NEU teacher members who voted in the ballot backed the strikes, with a turnout of 53 percent. In Wales, 92 per cent of NEU teacher members who voted in the ballot backed the strikes, with a 58 per cent turnout.

But the Children’s Commissioner warned that a strike would harm vulnerable pupils who are still recovering from the impact of the pandemic.

Dame Rachel de Souza said children “cannot afford” to have even more distributed class time, just as they were returning to school after the Covid lockdowns.

Overall, 300,000 teachers and support staff in England and Wales were asked to vote on the NEU ticket.

Support staff in Welsh schools will also go on strike in the pay dispute after 88 per cent of voting members backed the action, with a turnout of 51 per cent.