The doors opened at schools across Israel on Thursday morning for some 2.5 million children returning from summer vacation.
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The threat of a teachers' strike left the start of the academic calendar in limbo for weeks, but a last-minute deal was struck on Wednesday.
The agreements reached between the teachers' union and the Finance and Education ministries following months of negotiations include the key demand to increase salaries – raising the starting wage for teachers to $2,705 per month, with bonuses starting at $331.
Israel's 218,000 education workers were thus returning to work on Thursday at 5,440 schools and 22,050 kindergartens around the country.
Prime Minister Yair Lapid was scheduled to help kick off the school year with a morning visit to Nitzanei Hamada Elementary School in Rehovot. He was to be joined by Education Minister Yifat Shasha-Biton and the Secretary General of the teachers' union, Yaffa Ben David.
Lapid for his part praised the agreement, saying that it "will improve the status of teachers in Israel and the level of education that the children of Israel receive."
"Investing in a good education system with properly compensated young and veteran teachers is an investment in our children and in the future of the State of Israel," he added.
This article was first published by i24NEWS.
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