Teachers angered by threat of increased class sizes

THE threat of increases in class sizes next year has prompted an angry response from teachers and opposition parties.

While reports that the move is under serious consideration have not been confirmed, recent talks between the Department of Education, teacher unions, parent organisations and school management groups to find alternative savings are understood to have made little progress. The department is understood to be considering submissions from almost a dozen education partners, but it is expected that these will not offer savings of the level required by the Department of Finance.

This may leave Education Minister Ruairi Quinn with little option but to push up class sizes and save almost €80 million on the annual teachers’ pay bill of around €3.8 billion. In 2009, previous education minister Batt O’Keeffe increased the number of pupils per primary teacher from 26 to 27 and, at second level, the mainstream pupil-teacher ratio rose from 18 to 19, and to 20 in fee-paying schools.