Teaching unions accept pay offer

Teaching unions in Northern Ireland have accepted a pay offer.

It comes after bouts of industrial action over pay parity with colleagues in the rest of the UK.

The Northern Ireland Teachers’ Council, which includes the five largest teaching unions, and management side formally ratified the pay agreement for 2021-2023 on Tuesday.

The agreement will see the starting salary for teachers increase to £30,000 and pay scales increase by 10.4% plus £1,000.

Caoimhin MacColaim, chairman of the Irish National Teachers’ Organisation (Into) northern committee, said the offer is “not perfect” but “represents a significant uplift in pay for all teachers and school leaders”.

Mark McTaggart, Into northern secretary, added: “The NITC will continue to work together for full pay restoration, beginning with renewed negotiation around a pay settlement for the year beginning September 2024.”

Education Minister Paul Givan welcomed the agreement.

“This settlement will see the end to all industrial action by teachers and school leaders which has been ongoing since May 2022,” he said.

“Teachers and school leaders play a vital role in the Northern Ireland education system, and I want to put on record my appreciation for the hard work they do on a daily basis.

“The cessation of industrial action will increase stability in our schools and provide the basis for continued improvement throughout the education sector.”

Mr Givan also said he is seeking funding for the Education Authority Pay and Grading review for support staff.

“I am very encouraged that business case approval has now been received from the Department of Finance to enable issues to be progressed with the current grading structure for support staff,” he said.

“This has been a major challenge for schools in recent years and resolution of this issue will improve the recruitment and retention of support staff.

“However, significant additional funding will be required to enable the preferred option to be implemented and I have submitted a bid for the required additional funding of circa £180 million and associated recurrent funding of circa £90 million as part of the 2024/25 budget round.”