Teachers are being forced to work second jobs in order to “keep eating” and pay for essentials during the cost of living crisis, with one in 10 believed to have taken on another role alongside teaching.

Tens of thousands of teachers at schools in England and Wales are voting for the first time in a decade on whether to go on strike, with the government’s offer of a 5 per cent pay rise for most educators falling well below unions’ demands of 12 per cent.

At one school in Kent, teachers are now also working as farm hands, bartenders and dancing in a Greek restaurant, according to Garry Ratcliffe, the chief executive of the Galaxy Trust, which runs four primary schools in the southeastern county.

These second jobs are not to fund holidays or optional expenses, but “to keep eating”, Mr Ratcliffe told The Observer, adding that an emergency free food cupboard installed in the staff room at the same school “has to be refilled every day”.

“They are worrying about money, there is a greater reliance on public transport as some can’t afford to run their cars. This is about working to survive, not working to thrive,” he said.

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