The Scottish government is expected to approve additional money for a new teacher pay deal early next week.
Tes Scotland understands that the cabinet will meet on Monday to agree the extra funding and an improved offer will be made to teaching unions, with the goal that a two-year deal can be reached.
The hope is that teaching unions will suspend strike action on the basis of an interim offer.
However, if the teaching unions refuse, Tes Scotland understands the government could impose the deal.
A source close to the negotiations said: “There is a desire to pay staff their back money before the end of this tax year to avoid them paying more in tax when rates rise in April.”
The pay deal for NHS workers was imposed by the Scottish government in December despite it being rejected by some unions.
Education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville told Tes Scotland the government was “committed to resolving this dispute as soon as possible” and it was “progressing work for an improved offer to be put to teaching unions”.
Scottish teachers are campaigning for a 10 per cent pay rise this year and have been striking since the end of November. However, since the action began, no new offer has been brought forward by the government and councils, with the best offer to date being 5 per cent.
Yesterday, strike action in Wales was suspended after just one day of walkouts. The Welsh government made an improved offer of an extra 1.5 per cent - on top of the 5 per cent already on the table - as well as a 1.5 per cent as a one-off payment.
Whether the NEU teaching union - which was seeking an above-inflation pay rise for Welsh teachers - accepts the deal remains to be seen. However, the Welsh government has said that the new pay offer is the maximum it can afford and if the offer is rejected it will be unable to make a higher offer.
Responding to the prospect of a new pay offer for Scottish teachers, EIS general secretary Andrea Bradley said that for months the unions had been indicating they were willing to talk about a two-year deal. She said if you looked at past settlements, more were multi-year than single-year.
Ms Bradley continued: “We have to be optimistic about any sign that additional money is finally going to be available but the figures have to be right. It will all come down to the detail because what a two-year deal cannot be is just a different way of short-changing Scottish teachers.
“It has to be a fair settlement and one that our members could credibly consider regardless of whether it’s over one year, or two years, 16 months or 28 months.
“Whatever way it is sliced and diced, it has to be an offer that is credible.”
On Tuesday, the EIS announced a series of new strike dates targeted at “key decision makers”. Beginning on 22 February, strikes will take place in the constituencies of education secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville, deputy first minister and former education secretary John Swinney and Scottish Greens education spokesperson Ross Greer, whose party is in government with the SNP.
Another key figure who will be targeted in this fresh wave of strike action is Katie Hagmann, an SNP councillor in Dumfries and Galloway, who is the resources spokesperson for local authorities’ body Cosla.
That strike action is on top of two days of national strike action on 28 February and 1 March, and 20 further days of rolling strikes across all local authority areas from 13 March to 21 April.
Meanwhile, the Scottish Secondary Teachers’ Association has indicated that - because strike action has failed to result in a new pay deal so far - the unions could target the qualifications.
