Principals and teachers are frustrated that, despite the recent celtic tiger years, classes in Ireland remain the second largest in Europe.

In a report in the Sunday Business Post, INTO general secretary John Carr points out that as far back as 2002, before this year's entrants to junior infants were born, the government had promised classes of less than 20 for children less than nine years of age. The programme for government had committed to reducing class sizes to 26 pupils in 2008, to 25 in 2009 and to 24 in 2010, but had reneged on the commitment in a government U-turn prior to the December 2007 budget.

‘‘The government had committed to this issue and then, on the first downturn, it went back on that. You can imagine the anger and frustration among teachers when, on the first time out, they reneged on the deal,” John Carr told the Sunday Business Post.

‘‘For six years, we have listened to government commitments in one form or another to reduce class sizes. We still have the second most overcrowded classes in Europe... In super-sized classes of more than 30, pupils do not get a fair chance,” he said.

However, there are those who are questioning the class-size issue, especially in the light of research by McKinsey last year which found that class size had a negligible effect on educational outcomes for pupils, The Sunday Business Post reports that Áine Lynch, chief executive of the National Parents Council Primary, believes the benefits of smaller class sizes needs to be re-evaluated.

‘‘It [class size] is definitely an issue, but it’s not clear how big of an issue it is because of new research. While we are not going to just change our opinions based on one piece of research, it should be looked at,” said Ms. Lynch.

She said the research had consistently shown that children between four and nine benefited from small classes, but the study was asking questions as to whether the same was true for older children.

‘‘The research also looks at whether the outcome for children would be better if resources were put into teacher training, recruitment and increasing the professionalism of teaching, rather than bringing down class sizes,” she said.

‘‘While I am not implying that Irish teachers are not professional, the point is being made that maybe the resources might be better put into training.

‘‘It is posing the question that it could cost less and have a better outcome for children.”

 Ms Lynch suggested that research be carried out in Ireland to establish the facts, instead of just repeating calls for reductions in class sizes.

"To just say that all class sizes should be small and that they all should come down to 20 is unrealistic. Research in the Irish context needs to be carried out to ensure a better system for the children,” she said.

The class size issue is not one that will go away quickly - latest figures from the Central Statistics Office (CSO) indicate that the primary school population is set to increase by 38 per cent (172,600 pupils) within the next 13 years.

INTO chief John Carr is determined to fight on. "Commitments made to reduce the size of overcrowded classes must be kept," he insists. (Source: Sunday Business Post)