Government ‘abandons’ vow to cut class sizes

THE Government was accused yesterday of abandoning a commitment to cut school class sizes according to international standards.

As parties in the Dáil focused on next month’s Meath and Kildare North by-elections, Labour leader Pat Rabbitte accused Education Minister Mary Hanafin of abandoning a pledge in the Programme for Government to reduce average class sizes to 20 pupils per teacher for children aged under nine.

In Meath and Kildare, the Dublin South West TD said the Government had failed to reach its target in most schools and one Meath school had the second largest class in the country.