TEACHERS have welcomed an agreement on pay as a major step forward.
A formal offer for 2019 and 2020 has been accepted by the five main teaching unions.
It includes backdating of a two per cent salary increase from September 2019, and a further two per cent from September 2020.
It is expected teachers will receive payment in either May or June.
INTO Northern Secretary Gerry Murphy said the uplift took teachers further along the pathway in restoring salaries "to the levels they should be at".
"The uplift agreed of two per cent for each of the years along with the associated back pay and the fact that the uplift comes with no strings attached is a positive step," he added.
Justin McCamphill, NASUWT National Official Northern Ireland, said it was important to note that the pay award was made without preconditions on the workforce.
Graham Gault of the NAHT union added that it was a "welcome restorative pay offer in recognition that teachers have had their salaries more or less frozen for almost a decade".
Education Minister Peter Weir said he was pleased that unions accepted the offer.
