Teachers and Education Minister to meet for new talks

Teachers unions and the Education Minister Jan O'Sullivan have agreed to attend fresh talks next week.

The process is to be chaired by Dr Pauric Travers.

Nearly 30,000 secondary teachers are on the picket lines today for the second time.

They have threatened to call a third day of strike over their opposition to marking their own students assessments.

Minister O'Sullivan said she that she has already made concessions on the issue.

"There's no logic in saying that I have to do all the moving," she said.

"I mean, this isn't something I've come up with out of my own head, this is something that's been recommended by the National Council of Curriculum and Assessment.

"There's a huge body of research that suggests that we need to change the way in which we measure the attainments of young people."