The Education Minister says she is hopeful secondary school teachers unions will accept proposals to engage in negotiations on Junior Cert reform.
Jan O'Sullivan says neither the Department of Education nor the ASTI and TUI have seen the proposals being put forward by independent chairperson Dr Pauric Travers.
The executive councils of the teachers unions meet tomorrow to discuss Dr Traver's recommendation, after another round of talks with representatives from the Department of Education ended without agreement earlier this week.
Speaking to Newstalk Breakfast, Minister O'Sullivan says they have not seen the proposals yet, but they are willing to accept them:
27,000 members of the TUI and ASTI held a day long strike last month, in protest at changes to the junior cycle. Around 350,000 secondary school students were forced to stay at home as their teachers took to the picket lines for a second time.
The dispute concerns the issue of teachers marking their own students exams for the Junior Cycle. The Education Minister says the requirement is now down to 40%, rather than the 100% initially proposed. Unions have continued to reject proposals, with the hopes that ongoing talks could help resolve the issue before another day of strike action.
