Almost 300,000 students in more than 600 schools will be affected today and tomorrow as members of the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (ASTI) withdraw supervision cover as part of their continuing pay dispute.
This is the second week of the industrial action in pursuit of a 30 per cent pay claim. Pupils have already lost two days of school as a result.
The action will lead to the closure of most schools because managers claim the health and safety of pupils cannot be guaranteed.
There will be further school closures next week, as lunchtime supervision and cover for absent colleagues will again be withdrawn by ASTI's 16,000 members on November 28th, 29th and 30th. A national strike is planned for December 5th.
A poll last weekend showed a significant slippage in support for the ASTI's campaign.
The union's general secretary, Mr Charlie Lennon, said that nobody in the ASTI was particularly surprised at the poll findings. "When you are taking industrial action you expect a certain number of people to be unhappy with it. We always expected that", he said.
Mr Lennon said the union had not received an invitation from the Minister for Education, Dr Woods, to a meeting with the benchmarking body, the Government's new pay review agency, next Monday at Government Buildings.
"This is a meeting between the ICTU public service committee and the benchmarking body. As the ASTI has withdrawn from the ICTU, it is not party to this meeting and has received no invitation to attend", said Mr Don McCluskey, president of the ASTI.
Mr McCluskey urged the Minister to provide a framework for talks between the ASTI and the Government.
The ASTI standing committee has rejected a proposal to escalate the dispute on December 5th, the next strike day, by placing pickets on 50 additional schools in which the majority of teachers are members of the Teachers' Union of Ireland. ASTI and TUI members work together in many schools.