Secondary school teachers have voted to go on strike over the planned reform of the Junior Cycle. Members of the Association of Secondary Teachers of Ireland (ASTI) voted overwhelmingly in favour of extending their industrial action.

The planned changes include the abolition of the state exam to be replaced with school-based exams, marked by the pupils' own teachers.

The ASTI ballot result means that both second-level teacher unions have voted to extend the current industrial action to include strikes.

"Strike action is always the very last resort for teachers and today's result shows the depth of feeling amongst ASTI members that the Framework proposals will have a serious negative impact on students' experience of second-level education," said ASTI General-Secretary Pat King.

"We now have a clear message for the Minister: teachers are not prepared to implement proposals which they believe are educationally unsound. It is vital that the Minister engages with the teacher unions in a way that ensures teachers’ concerns are heard and addressed," he added.

ASTI President Philip Irwin added: "The outcome of this ballot reflects the deep concern ASTI members have that the abolition of the Junior Cert exam and its replacement with a school exam marked by students’ own teachers represents a running down of Junior Cycle education - which will result in a decline in student motivation due to the diminished status of the exam."