The teachers’ union yesterday decided to accept the Government’s latest wage offer, ending fears of a possible strike that would have crippled the island’s public education system this week.

The teachers were holding out for an increase in the one item on which they and the Government were unable to agree – a Resource and Technology Allowance for which they were demanding an additional $2,000 over two years on the $22,000 offered by the Government.

However, following a meeting yesterday, a Jamaica Teachers’ Association source who spoke on condition of anonymity, told the Sunday Observer that the accepted offer will see the teachers receiving $21,000 in year one and $22,000 in year two.

“We feel that accepting the improved offer is the best thing to do to reserve our energies and prevent a disruption of the island’s public education system,” the source said. “We were asking for $24,000 in year two, which was $2,000 more than what the Government was offering, but it has been reduced to $1,000 and we have decided to accept.”