Talks on class sizes and teacher numbers in secondary schools will be be held today between education officials and teachers' representatives in Dublin.
Members of the Association of Secondary Teachers in Ireland (ASTI) voted recently to give their executive the authority to call a strike on the issue.
At today's meeting ASTI representatives will hear how the Department of Education and Science proposes to address the problem.
An ASTI survey suggests most second-level schools have classes with more than 30 students.
A quarter of schools said they had been forced to drop subjects due to a lack of teachers and nearly half had been prevented from adding new subjects for the same reason.
ASTI wants the issue examined by a body outside the Department, with teacher representatives and other interests on it. The body would have to work quickly, says ASTI, so a solution could be put in place for the 2000/2001 school year.