Tomorrow, more than 700 secondary schools will close, which is very regrettable for students in particular, particularly those doing examinations. It is all because of the approach the Government originally took to junior cycle reform and in particular, the assessment dimension and the former Minister, Deputy Quinn, ignoring the recommendations of the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, and the teachers in his original announcement and declarations. In the context of much of what he proposed, that did not work particularly well and the new Minister had to reverse quite a lot of what he suggested and his approach in particular.

Such a strike does impact on students, particularly examination students. We are coming close to the pre-leaving certificate and pre-junior certificate examinations as well as the real examinations in May and June. This strike was avoidable. The essence of the issue is the credibility and integrity of the assessment system. Teachers have articulated the view that this would fundamentally impair and damage the relationship between teacher and student in the classroom. There is also a view out there that it could fatally undermine the integrity of the State assessment process.

I acknowledge and welcome the fact that there has been compromise but I made the point on the last occasion on which I raised this issue that this needed some fresh thinking and that people need to stand back and facilitate other approaches to resolving this issue. All stakeholders must be on board. The fundamental relationship in education and the learning process is the dynamic between the child and the teacher in the classroom. One cannot just ram it through as the former Minister tried to do and one cannot have preconditions around negotiations.

We have other examples where we successfully piloted curriculum reform in the past. The primary school curriculum, which was a very substantive reform in 1999, has been externally evaluated in terms of its impact and work because stakeholders were brought on board over time. Other reforms at senior cycle over the years have also worked in terms of the leaving certificate applied and other leaving certificate programmes as opposed to the mainstream leaving certificate so there is a way of doing this. The Government needs to change tack and, in particular, needs to acknowledge the very genuine and fundamental concerns teachers have in respect of the proposals before them. I ask the Taoiseach to speak with the Minister, to stand back and to look at a fresh approach to resolving this issue once and for all.

Deputy Martin is right to raise the point, which he knows from his own experience, that the only people who suffer here are the students. It is of particular concern to them that a second day of strike is taking place tomorrow. Deputy Martin is also right when he says that the strike is avoidable. It is avoidable. The Minister has made it perfectly clear on more than one occasion that she is quite willing to engage further with and talk to teachers and teacher groups about this. This strike is still avoidable if the teachers should decide that this would be so and I ask that they would do so because the only people who suffer are the students.

This is not a case of the Minister implementing by diktat the original proposal from the former Minister. She has compromised a good deal and has changed the nature of the first series of proposals from the former Minister. The junior certificate is an important part of a young person's life. The changes that are being made and the assessment methods that are being proposed by the Minister have taken into account what the teachers said about their relationship with the Department and Minister. I suggest that the people who are mostly discommoded here are students who are in many cases preparing for examinations later on in the year. The teachers should reflect on the changes and compromises the Minister has accepted from them and that what is on the table now is a series of very reasonable and achievable objectives which will enhance the status of teachers and the integrity of the examination. The Minister has gone out of her way on many occasions to say that she has listened carefully to teachers, has taken into account what they have said and has put a very different set of propositions on the table. Everybody should run with that. I ask that the strike be called off.

The issue is that the Minister has brought us back to where we were three years ago because the original NCCA working group recommended a 60:40 divide with 60% being given to a written terminal examination and 40% being given to assessment. The former Minister just unilaterally ignored the NCCA working group and went off on his own singular move to say that we will abolish external certification and assessment in its entirety. He lost the teachers in the process. Three years later, the current Minister is essentially trying to regain lost ground. That is the net issue.

Nobody has any issue with the reform in terms of the content or substance of the learning processes or the idea of changing how we teach and learn across the junior certificate cycle. However, we should acknowledge that the assessment issue is an important principle because the ultimate fear is whether this will follow through to the leaving certificate and whether we will get a dumbed-down version of State assessment because national standards and a national curriculum are important. There are strengths the Irish education system has had. Key to underpinning those is a robust national certification programme and process. That can take many forms. I accept that nobody has a veto but no programme can be successfully or enthusiastically implemented if people are not enthusiastically engaged and on board. It is no fault of the Minister. I blame her predecessor. Much ground was lost in terms of rolling out this reform and getting it through because of the ham-fisted and appalling nature of its attempted implementation.

The Minister should stand back. There are other ways of cracking this. Other curricular reforms at senior certificate level, such as the leaving certificate applied, were introduced in other ways. The Minister should just stand back, stop saying "you have to be this or that", see whether we can get a working model that would satisfactorily resolve this and above all, prevent undue stress. It is stress for anyone doing the leaving certificate.

They want to be in school and focus on their examination preparations. It is regrettable that we are again facing a strike. Rather than following the dictum or advice, I suggest the Government stand back and look at more creative ways of resolving the issue. That could be done.

The Minister for Education and Skills did stand back to consider the proposals that were on the table. She engaged with the teachers, listened to them, took on board what they had said and changed the nature of the proposals. Change is always difficult to accept. It was not the Minister or the students who called the strike; it was called by the teachers. One element of what the Minister is proposing that is in the interests of teachers is the conditioning and demonstration of the assessment methods for the examinations. There is a strong element of national assessment in the junior certificate. As the Deputy is aware, it is an examination that has to evolve and change in the changing world in which we live. I agree that the strike is avoidable. Even today it can be avoided if the teachers take on board that the Minister has engaged with them and is willing to continue engaging with them. There is a changed element of assessment and support is being provided for teachers to do their jobs. It is about the quality of the students who can emerge from the process, the integrity of the examination system and the capacity of teachers to undertake this element of work. They know all of this. The changes being proposed by the Minister are reasonable and fair and the outcome of engaging and listening to the teachers. The strike is avoidable and the only ones who will suffer are the children and students. I ask teachers at this late stage to take this on board.

As a lapsed teacher, I am sure the Taoiseach will agree with me that learning and education are pillars of society. Many of us, myself included, can point to a teacher or teachers who had a pivotal influence on us as we were pointed in certain directions in our lives' journeys. The teachers do not want to go on strike, but that is what will happen tomorrow, causing great disruption for students in particular, as well as for their families and teachers.

The core of the issue, as the Taoiseach indicated, is reform of the junior cycle. It has boiled down to the key issue of teachers assessing their own students for certification purposes. Broadly, Sinn Féin supports all of the progressive reforms and proposals the Government has brought forward, except on the one issue of assessment. It makes sense that assessments should be impartial, external and standardised. The Minister has conceded that principle by saying teachers do not have to assess 60% of their students' work. We are in this bind because she insists on imposing a veto whereby teachers must assess 40% of their students' work. Sinn Féin agrees with the Minister's strategy of moving away from rote learning, but the intransigence shown on this issue has made a strike inevitable. The Taoiseach will acknowledge there needs to be agreement. Teachers are fundamental to how we progress. If they do not embrace this change, it will become a series of disruptions, especially for the young people involved. I ask the Taoiseach to review what he has said on the matter. We have tabled a Private Members' business motion on it and asked the Minister to review what she is doing, postpone further implementation of the junior cycle reform and return to the negotiating table to seek a reasonable agreed - not imposed - resolution of this important issue.

I share the Deputy's view on the importance of strong leadership from teachers, which has an incredible impact on many young minds and is important in terms of the quality and attractiveness of Irish students for what they do.

The Government damaged that relationship. That is the issue.

Teaching plays an important role in this regard. This is not a case of the Minister imposing by diktat something that has been considered. Compromise has been brought about because she has engaged with teachers and listened carefully to what they have had to say. I recently spoke to somebody from a country which had changed the entire structure of examinations to one where boxes were ticked and papers corrected by computer. That is not possible with an essay or under the structure in place here. The Minister has changed the proposal to assessment of 40% of a student's work. Teachers know their students better than anybody else and are professionals. Assessments by teachers cover 100% of work in a range of subjects in many other countries. Teachers here are being asked to assess 40% of the work done by their pupils. The training element included is very important in allowing teachers to do a professional job for their students. The strike is avoidable and could be called off today. It was not the students, the parents or the Minister who called the strike; it was called by the teachers. The proposals on the table are the consequence of the Minister having engaged and listened. She thinks the proposals are very reasonable and asks the teachers to proceed with them. She is always willing to engage with and listen to teachers' groups and unions. I appeal to them to call off the strike today. The students who were in the Visitors Gallery a few minutes ago do not want the strike to proceed.

They do not want their teachers to assess them.

It is important that students are able to prepare for their examinations. Teachers are professionals and an element of assessing their own pupils is something they can manage with credibility and confidence.

Why is the Taoiseach taking such a hardline stance? Teachers are the professionals. They are the folks who know about the matter. Given the bind we are in, the Minister will end up sitting down with the teachers. She will return to the negotiating table and the issue will in all likelihood be resolved at some point. We should listen to what the teachers are saying. The implication of the Taoiseach's reply is that in some way they do not want to do the extra work. That is not the case. I am concerned that the training and funding necessary for the proposed changes have not been provided. We stand on the principle that assessments should be external and standardised, but teachers of English are required to implement the framework for the junior cycle English specification after receiving only one day of in-service training. We should not take lightly the fact that 730 schools will close tomorrow. The principal responsibility for resolving the difficulties lies with the Government. The teachers have reiterated their support for a first-class junior cycle for all students, including a move away from reliance on final written examinations and the promotion of different types of assessment such as more practical project and portfolio work. Teachers are innovative in how they approach their work. It is not enough to say the Government or the students did not call the strike. We know that. This comes down to the Government digging in on a position - I do not know the basis for it - that teachers have to assess 40% of their students' work. Surely that is bridgeable. I again ask the Taoiseach to review his stance. This is the time for the Minister to try to avert the strike tomorrow. She should speak to the unions this afternoon and evening, listen to their fears and concerns and deliver on what they are saying.

It is not a hardline stance. Everybody accepts that there is a need to change the structure of the junior certificate examinations. A number of proposals have been tabled during the years as to how this might happen.

There is an evolution of change here for the junior certificate. The proposition on the table follows the Minister having listened very carefully to the teacher unions. If the teacher unions decide to call off the strike today, I am sure the Minister is willing to engage with them again if there an element of difference or something else they wish to put on the table.

There should not be pre-conditions.

The Government should move on assessment.

However, we must change the structure of it. The Deputy has made the point himself - I agree with him - that the responsibility does not just lie with the Government. The Deputy recognises the need for change and it cannot be changed without the co-operation, willingness and support of teaching professionals. What was on the table was an original proposition from the former Minister, Deputy Ruairí Quinn, and that has been changed by the Minister, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, having engaged with the teachers. These are young people who are doing their junior certificate examination and it is a system that must change. To assess 40% of the work of a junior certificate pupil is not beyond the professional competency of any teacher.

That is to miss the point entirely.

While change is often difficult to accept, what we are doing is trying to provide the very best level of first examination process for students moving through secondary school. The Minister, Deputy Jan O'Sullivan, and her people have spent hours engaging with unions and teachers on this change. It is a very progressive step in the right direction so that the integrity, quality, range and structure of that examination will be what we all want it to be; one that caters for the individual talents, competencies and levels of ability of students going through the junior certificate. If the unions decide today to issue a statement saying the strike is off, that will be welcomed by the Minister, and the many thousands of parents and students, particularly those doing examinations.

Will the Government move on the assessment issue?

Drop the bad idea.

As she has said on many occasions, the Minister is more than willing to continue to work and engage with teacher unions. I ask for that to happen. At the end of the day, this position will be resolved. The Minister has put a compromise on the table that is very reasonable and that should be accepted.

Except for assessment. There is no surrender on assessment.