More than eight out of 10 primary school children are in significantly bigger classes than the Government promised when it took office five years ago, a public meeting heard last night.
Addressing the first of a nationwide series of meetings on the issue, John Carr, general secretary of the Irish National Teachers Organisation, said the Government's post-election commitment to reduce class sizes for under nines had been made "in the full knowledge" of the cost and other implications.
But progress had been "minimal", with average Irish class sizes remaining the second-highest in Europe.
The meetings are being organised to exert pressure on the Government before the election. The INTO is calling on it to honour commitments made in the Programme for Government that class sizes for under nines would be reduced to fewer than 20.
The union says that currently, a quarter of all pupils in primary school are in classes of greater than 30. Less than 15 per cent are in classes of under 20 - in total 85 out of every 100 primary school pupils are in classes above Government targets, it claims.
"When we have failed more than eight in every 10 pupils in our schools it is hard not to draw the conclusion that primary school pupils are simply not a priority for our society," Mr Carr said. "Allowing overcrowded primary school classes to be the key feature of our education system today is wrong. It is wrong that one of the wealthiest countries in the world allows its children to be taught in some of the most overcrowded classrooms.
"The more children there are in a class the less teacher time there is available for each child. In Irish primary classes teacher time with young pupils is spread very thinly indeed. A shocking fact is that in junior infant classes there is at most eight minutes of teacher time per day for each individual child. In reality it is far less."
Mr Carr was speaking at the launch of his union's "Is your child being crowded out?" initiative in Booterstown, Co Dublin. A second meeting was also held in Swords, Co Dublin yesterday.
The campaign, which will seek commitments from Opposition TDs and candidates that they will prioritise class size in the event of a change of government, is primarily aimed at parents and the public.Meetings will take place around the State over the next two months.