Parents have demanded that secondary teachers be "paid properly" for providing supervision and substitution cover in schools in September.
The National Parents' Council (Post-Primary) said it was time for the Department of Education to put a value on the work, currently done by teachers on a voluntary basis.
Following a meeting with school managers yesterday, Ms Margaret Horan, vice-president of the council, said parents wanted to see a new supervision system set up, preferably with teachers.
Ms Barbara Johnston, of the Congress of Catholic Secondary School Parent Associations, said the Department had got an education system on the cheap over recent decades and it was now time to pay teachers a decent amount for supervision and substitution work.
Ms Johnston said while parents had major difficulties with the ASTI's strike action, it supported teachers on the supervision issue and said the Department of Finance should immediately agree to fund the new arrangements.
She said whatever arrangements emerged, parents wanted proper substitution where teachers taught a class. "We do not want to see someone coming in to just give a baby-sitting service".
On May 8th two of the three teacher unions and the Department of Education begin talks on a new supervision scheme. So far the Association of Secondary Teachers, Ireland (ASTI) has refused to participate.
Mr George O'Callaghan, of the Joint Managerial Body, which represents most school managers, said his group was as determined as parent representatives to see schools open in September.