Questions to the Minister of Education

Minister's Answer

Through the Teachers' Negotiating Committee (TNC), a joint pay group is operational, and meetings are taking place with employers, sectoral support bodies and the recognised teaching trade unions — represented by the Northern Ireland Teachers' Council (NITC) — to explain to and update them on the current financial pressures in education and discuss the current pay claim from the NITC. The claim was substantially higher than what has been recommended by the United Kingdom Government and accepted by teachers in England.

In line with the requirements of public-sector pay policy, any proposals for a teachers' pay award must be affordable, and that is proving difficult to resolve, given the pressures that already face the Education budget. Four of the five unions on the NITC balloted for industrial action and action short of strike action, and that was due to commence on Monday 13 January. I provided confirmation that I am committed to securing the funding that is required to make a formal pay offer in the context of the agreement reached in the summer of last year in England and Wales and on the understanding that we secure agreement on a sustained period of stability, free from industrial action, including action short of strike, in our schools. As a result of that, the four trade unions agreed to suspend their industrial action for four weeks to allow further discussion aimed at finalising the ongoing pay negotiations.

The workload agreement, TNC 2024/2, is effective in providing clarification, advice and guidance on teachers' terms and conditions to boards of governors, principals and teachers. Management side and the NITC have jointly designed a framework to address the recommendations contained in the eight completed workforce reviews.

Minister's Answer

I thank the Member for that question. Three of the four unions balloted purely on the pay issue, but one union included issues to do with workload. My original response highlighted issues to do with workload, including commitments that were made and work streams that we have been taking forward.

A timetable for the implementation of the areas that can be progressed, immediately and over the short to medium term, has been agreed with the trade unions. The focus of both management side and the NITC is to determine the areas of work that, once revised and implemented, will have the potential to impact positively on working practices in the education sector. A programme of work has been prepared, grouping the recommendations that are in progress and those that can be progressed with existing resources into themes, one of which relates to school leaders. I will continue to do all that I can to progress those measures and to secure the funding and resources that are needed to provide a pay settlement. I will work with the unions to get a resolution over the next number of weeks.