The INTO reports "a significant meeting of minds" with the Minister for Education and Science to resolve primary school grievances which led to a series of one-day strikes before Christmas.
Department sources said talks under way were part of a consultative process involving unions, parent and management bodies.
According to a report in the current issue of the primary teachers' union journal, In Touch, there have been "discussions, negotiations and exchanges of documents which both the INTO and the Department of Education and Science believe will lead to significant and welcome advances towards our objectives."
It says the main issues discussed with Mr Martin last week were "staffing and class size, funding, the teaching principal, caretakers and secretaries, and schools with an urgent staffing difficulty."
