Teachers on strike outside mullingar secondary school this morning

"The picket signs say it all, we're in favour of equality and fairness for all our students," said teachers on strike outside Loreto College in Mullingar this morning.

They join 27,000 other second level teachers protesting across Ireland today at concerns over significant elements of the proposed new Junior Cycle.

Teachers represented by ASTI and TUI are concerned that aspects of the proposals pose a threat to education standards, fairness and quality. 

"We want to stick to our principals and gaurantee quality and fairness for our students down the line

"The school based assessment is a big part of the problem. We want to maintain our standards and quality of education that Ireland is renowned for," they said.

Teachers also have concerns about current system capacity to accommodate such major change.

Teachers across Ireland mounted the strike action at 8.30am this morning and plan to go on all day. A second day of strike action could take place in January if talks between the teacher unions and the Minister for Education and Skills, Jan O'Sullivan fail to resolve the impasse over the framework for Junior Cycle.