Speaking at the regular cabinet press conference Thursday, Lukas said: "Teachers' salary will rise by 23.9 percent next year and, their average wage will rise to €2,048. The minimum salary for teachers is set to rise, from €1,412, to €1,749."

The increase was, he said: "A prerequisite for carrying out everything else in this society. It is very important that teachers are valued, so that we can be sure of the economic foundation for the future, as well as for an integrated and peaceful society."

The organization of workloads will make things more flexible also, he added, another way of demonstrating the value class teachers are held in.

With regard to higher education , Lukas said that in addition to €10 million in funding already added for the next fiscal year, over the next four years, funding for universities and colleges of applied sciences will be boosted to the tune of €130.5 million, giving a total of 140.5 million.

"The funding of universities will exceed one percent of GDP," he added.

As reported by ERR News, Interior Minister Lauri Läänemets announced that the monthly take-home wage of Rescue Board (Päästeamet) workers will rise by 36 percent, to €1,620 per month gross, while for Police and Border Guard (PPA) officers, pay will rise 17 percent, to €1,849 per month gross.

Staff at the Estonian Academy of Security Sciences (Sisekaitseakadeemia) in Tallinn will see a 25 percent pay-rise while Alarm Center (Hairekeskus) staff nationwide will get a pay boost to €1,631 per month gross.

None of these wage hikes come at the expense of internal resources, Läänemets added.

Teaching representative bodies had threatened a strike if pay was not increased in 2023.

The €2,000-per-month mark is a watershed in that much above that figure (at €2,100 per month gross, in fact) a wage-earner's tax free threshold completely disappears.

--

Follow ERR News on Facebook and Twitter and never miss an update!