To ask the Minister of Education for her assessment of the degradation of teachers’ pay due to rate of inflation over the last 10 years.

Teachers’ terms and conditions, including pay, are negotiated by the Teachers’ Negotiating Committee (TNC). Management Side of the TNC includes representatives from the employers, sectoral interests and DE. Teachers’ Side of the TNC includes representatives from the Northern Ireland Teachers’ Council (NITC) comprising the five recognised teachers’ unions. My Department is not responsible for the management of the TNC although it is represented on it.

Pay awards for teachers must comply with the parameters laid out in NI Executive’s public sector pay policy. Given the pressures on Northern Ireland public services and associated budgets in recent years, this policy has dictated that pay awards must be affordable and justified by a pressing labour market case.

In this context, the annual awards for teachers are detailed below. Please note, these awards are in addition to incremental progression for eligible teachers, estimated at 0.8% of the pay bill per annum.

0%-from 1st September 2012* (NI Executive imposed pay freeze)

1%-from 1st September 2013

1%-from 1st September 2014

0%-from 1st September 2015* (Unions rejected pay offer)

1% - from 1st September 2016

2.25%-from 1st September 2017

2%-from 1st September 2018

2%-from 1st September 2019

2%-from 1st September 2020

*incremental progression was paid to eligible teachers in these years

I hope you find this information useful.