TORONTO -- The Ontario government says it will walk back plans to increase high school class sizes in the province, but it's not being scene as an acceptable compromise by the union representing high school teachers.

Education Minister Stephen Lecce made the announcement at a news conference on Thursday afternoon.

Lecce says the government will scale the funded average high school class size back to 25 students from the 28 it has been proposing for months.

The current collective agreement ties funding to an average class size of 22 students.

The issue was one of several causing tension between the government and the union representing high school teachers that's currently trying to ink a new labour deal.

“We proposed this significant change to OSSTF earlier today and yet following this proposal they have decided to continue their campaign towards disruption of your child's classroom by asking for a no board,” said Lecce.

Lecce says the move is meant to prove the government's commitment to averting strikes and keeping students in class.

The proposal is not being well received by the union representing high school teachers, the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation.

OSSTF District 9 President, Erin Roy, representing the Greater Essex area, says the move should not be seen as an encouraging sign of progress in current contract negotiations.

“To me [the 22 to 1 ratio] was not something I was ever willing to compromise on because it's money that's directly going to students and I'm never, I'm not interested in bargaining with students' futures and changing the funding generator is just money that you've taken away from classrooms and the students,” said Roy.

In a statement, OSSTF President Harvey Bischof argues the proposal is worse than the government's initial proposal be Bischof claims the change would eliminate locally bargained classroom limits.

"The proposal that was received this morning is, in fact, worse than the Ford government's original plan to hike average class siza ratios to 28:1," said Bischof in a statement.

Bischof claims the move to an average class size of 25 students would still lead to 5,000 fewer teachers over four years.

The province's contracts with all school workers expired at the end of August, and unions representing both elementary and high school teachers have requested conciliation during the tense contract talks.

With files from CTV Windsor