HEADTEACHERS have been asked to show compassion should pupils take time off school on Friday (15) to strike against climate change.

Vix Lowthion, education spokesperson for the Green Party, has written to Isle of Wight school heads to ask them to show compassion and consideration when authorising pupil absences caused by attendance at the Youth Strike 4 Climate.

Inspired by the actions of 16-year-old Greta Thumberg in Sweden last summer, this year up to 70,000 schoolchildren in 270 towns and cities worldwide have taken part in Fridays For Future to demand that politicians confront the climate emergency.

The United Nations IPCC report last year warned we have only 12 years left to limit global warming to a rise of only 1.5 degrees Celsius – or the consequences for the planet will be impossible to tackle.

On Friday, schoolchildren in the UK are planning to take part in the first nationwide Youth Strike 4 Climate, with events planned in towns and cities across the country.

Vix said: "I hope our headteachers can understand how important the future of our planet is, particularly for our young people.

"It is their future which is at stake, and while they cannot yet vote that does not mean that they must be silent.

"Action on Fridays For Future has recently seen 30,000 Belgian teenagers on strike to demand action on climate action, and I fully recognise their sense of urgency."

Isle of Wight campaigners will also be gathering on Saturday, March 2, in St Thomas’s Square, Newport at 12.30pm.