The size of classes in Irish primary schools may be affected by decisions related to special needs education cuts in the country.

Education Minister Ruairi Quinn recently announced proposed cuts in extra teaching for children with special educational needs will no longer be carried out in September - and the Irish Independent reports there are concerns that primary class sizes could pay the price for the rowback.

It has been suggested that class numbers in Ireland, which already see one teacher allocated for every 28 pupils, could lead to this ratio rising to one for every 30.5 students.

Mr Quinn is currently hoping to recoup €21 million spent on maintaining resource teacher support for young people with autism and other complex disabilities - and there are fears that paying for this will tie in to efforts to raise the pupil-teacher ratio.

The Irish National Teachers' Organisation has stated it would be opposed to any attempts to increase the ratio. 

Written by Donal Walsh

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