Industrial action by UK teachers. (Getty Image)

London, July 9 (RHC)-- Out of the classrooms and on to the streets, hundreds of thousands of school teachers across England are going on strike for 48 hours this week in what's become a battle for dignity and better wages.

One striking teacher told reporters: "We want to be with our children. We really do you know, it's coming towards the end of term we want to enjoy every day with them.  But at the same time, we recognize that the fight for children's future has to involve strike action because this government doesn't listen."

Gillian Keegan, Secretary of State for Education, says the government has made a fair and reasonable pay offer to teachers. Her department has refused to publish recommendations for an allegedly higher pay offer by the independent school teachers review body, a decision that unions say risks dragging out the current dispute.

Part of the argument here is how a pay rise should be paid for.  The government says schools should use their existing budgets to fund any pay increases.  But the teachers have been pushing back saying the school budget is already stretched and that any wage rise should be fully funded by the government.

And it is not just the teachers unions who are not being heard.  Workers across the public sector, such as transport and health, have supported each other over the months of industrial action sweeping the country, demonstrating a solidarity that has scared the government into responding with a set of draconian laws to make it difficult for strikes to take place.