Minister for Education Mary Hanafin is expected to begin reducing class sizes in primary schools, after securing additional funds in Government spending estimates.
The Estimates, to be published tomorrow, are expected to deliver an increase of about 10 per cent for the education sector.
This will open the way for the department to begin reducing primary class sizes, which are the second largest in the EU. But substantial progress may be delayed until next year's budget, the last before the expected election in 2007.
After years of shortages, record number of qualified primary teachers are coming into the system, which will give the Government the scope to cut class size.
Over 1,600 primary teachers will qualify next year. These include graduates from the five training colleges in the Republic, teachers trained in the North and the UK and graduates from the on-line course run by Hibernia College.
The Minister has been under intense pressure from the INTO on the issue, which this week began a series of nationwide school meetings on class sizes.
Over 100,000 primary pupils are in classes of over 30 students according to the union.
The Programme for Government promised to reduce class sizes for all under nines to 20 or less by 2007. The Government says it is still working towards this objective. But the Opposition claims that the commitment has been abandoned.
The INTO says some 3,000 extra teachers are needed if the Government is to make good on this commitment.
An increase of about 10 per cent, which is well ahead of the inflation rate, would represent a good result for Ms Hanafin.
But the Estimates are expected to disappoint the third-level sector, which has been seeking a "quantum leap" in funding as proposed by the landmark OECD report on the sector two years ago.
Details of a new Strategic Innovation Fund, designed to reward colleges for modernisation, will be delayed until the budget.
Sources says the figure for the fund will be about €10 million, much less than originally envisaged by the colleges.
Meanwhile, the Teachers' Union of Ireland (TUI) has said an increase of 25 per cent in each of the next three years is necessary to bring spending on education in Ireland up to world class Scandinavian standards.
Ms Hanafin is also under pressure to deliver more funds for second-level schools where Ireland ranks 21st of 27 countries in terms of spending .
The TUI says the proportion of national income spent on education has dropped from 4.7 per cent to 4.1 per cent in the past eight years, despite the fact that the Government is "awash with funds".
Ms Hanafin is also under pressure to increase funding on disadvantage; this would allow more schools to be designated as disadvantaged and receive additional supports.
The TUI is also seeking;
