Jan O'Sullivan says there needs to be some movement by teachers in a row over reform of the Junior Cert.
Secondary school teachers will strike next Tuesday after a breakdown in talks between Minister Jan O'Sullivan and the unions over teachers marking their own students' exams.
Earlier the President of the Teacher's Union of Ireland Gerry Quinn said they will continue to oppose the move.
Education Minister Jan O'Sullivan says she has already backed down and cannot go any further.
“I've moved from 100 percent assessment in school to 40 percent assessment in school – I think that's a considerable distance to move in any negotiation, and we need to see some movement from the other side” she said.
“I mean I've said that I'm quite happy to talk about how we would implement this, how teachers would be prepared for it – and as you know there's quite a slow timeframe”.
“There's one subject this year which is English, another subject will be introduced next year two subjects the year after” she added.
