Latest studies from the Department of Education has revealed the real situation with our classroom sizes.
According to the figures, roughly 25% of students are in classes of at least 30 others.
And although class sizes have not yet increased further, more students are now being affected joining those in 30+ pupil class sizes.
The situation is only set to worsen as enrolment in primary schools is going to keep growing to a peak of over 574,000 children in 2019.
These types of numbers have not been seen since the early 1980s which schools are currently not equipped for.
The proposal to cut class sizes by the government will put even more pressure on current teachers and will make it necessary to train more.
129,428 pupils currently sit in classes of 30 others in comparison to roughly 54,000 who are in classes of less than 20 which is a drop from previous years.
Most of these overcrowded classrooms are in schools in the extended Dublin commuter belt while some are in other areas which have seen a huge increase of young families in the past ten years.
Many counties are coming in above the national average of 25 pupils with Carlow having the biggest average at 27 pupils.
Even though 25 pupils is our average we still sit at number two with the second largest class size average in Europe.
In September schools will see some relief for overcrowded classrooms as Education Minister Jan O’Sullivan's plan to improve the pupil-teacher ratio will come into effect.
With 865 new primary teachers to handle the growing enrolment numbers and another 300 teachers being recruited to try and reduce the national average to 24 pupils.
