Dublin - Just over 20 per cent of Irish primary school children are being taught in classes of 30 pupils or more, figures from the Education Ministry released Monday showed.

A total of 95,773 of the 470,270 pupils in Irish primary schools were in classes of 30 and more, the figures showed.

"Almost 100,000 children remain in classes of 30 pupils or more despite year-on-year promises to tackle the issue," said John Carr, general secretary of the primary teachers' union, the Irish National Teachers Organization.

He said a lack of government planning was to blame.

Jost over one-tenth of Irish primary pupils were in classes of fewer then 20 pupils, the internationally recognized optimal size for primary education, Carr said.

In comments to Irish national broadcaster RTE, a spokesman for Irish Education Minister Batt O'Keeffe stressed that 80 per cent of pupils were in classes of under 30 pupils.

He said there were 30,000 primary school teachers, 6,000 more than six years ago, and the pupil to teacher ratio was 16:1.

On Tuesday, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) releases its 2008 Education at a Glance report, which examines class sizes, among other factors. (dpa)