Minister for Education Jan O'Sullivan has reiterated her call for teachers’ unions not to engage in strike action next Tuesday.
Second-level schools are due to close as teachers engage in a one-day strike in protest at plans for Junior Cycle reform.
The minister said she had moved but there had not really been any movement from the other side.
She said she was still hopeful Tuesday's strike would not go ahead.
Addressing the AGM of the Education and Training Boards, the minister criticised a suggestion in a column in The Irish Times that Irish society meant teachers could not fairly assess their own students.
Minister O'Sullivan said this argument was an entirely corrosive one and added that the reforms were about providing a more rounded view of students and their learning.
She said being assessed by their own teachers would give them access to rich and regular feedback.
