Stop setting the education budget 'artificially low', teachers tell Government

The warning came following reports the Department of Education has been told to curb potential overspending in some areas before committing to lowering primary classes even further.

“There will always be budget overruns when the percentage of the national budget set aside for education is lower than what is needed to run our schools properly,” said John Boyle, INTO general secretary.

“Stop setting the budget artificially low and then acting surprised when the figures don’t add up," he said. 

The Government has committed to delivering class-size reductions and this union expects this will be delivered, starting in the coming budget.

Falling enrolments present the best opportunity in decades to deliver smaller classes at no additional cost, according to Mr Boyle.

Speaking following the address, the minister said there was a “very clear commitment from all Government” to further reduce class sizes.

“They're the lowest they've ever been, but there's a very clear commitment to reduce it even further,” Ms McEntee said.

“Every child has a constitutional entitlement to education, and it's really important that I do everything that I can as minister to make sure that the resources and the supports are there,” she added.

Ms McEntee also acknowledged teachers had raised concerns about AI and incoming changes to the Leaving Cert.

Speaking ahead of a motion due to be debated at the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland (ASTI) annual congress in Killarney, Ms McEntee said: “AI is already here. It's already something that all students have access to.

“There’s further work that’s happening with my department, and I expect to be able to issue that in the coming weeks.

“I want to make sure that teachers feel confident in delivering the new curriculum, feel confident in supporting students, but, of course, to feel confident in identifying if there are measures that are being used by students that shouldn’t be used.”