Minister for Education Mary Hanafin yesterday launched a new edition of a guidebook for parents of children entering second level for the first time.
Entitled Introducing Your Second-Level School, it provides information on topics such as the resources available for students and their parents, how the second-level system works, homework, bullying and examinations.
Ms Hanafin said the provision of quality information for parents was a crucial part of empowering them to play a full role as partners in the education system.
However, president-elect of the Asti, Sheila Parsons, warned that smaller class sizes were "vital" to ensuring the successful transition of students from primary to second level.
A recent Economic and Social Research Institute study showed that more vulnerable students were particularly reliant on teachers when it came to settling in at second level, she said.
But at junior cycle level 35,000 children were in classes of 30 or more, while up to 90,000 pupils were in classes of more than 25.
"At second level, the combination of large class sizes and increasing demands on teachers' class time and out-of-class time, means teachers find themselves severely limited when it comes to one-to-one interaction and communication with their students," Ms Parsons said.
Some 60,000 copies of the book are to be distributed to schools shortly.