Teaching unions have criticised reports of education cuts in the forthcoming budget.
Primary teachers' union, the Irish National Teachers' Organisation, says it is appalled by what it said were Government threats to increase class sizes a year after promising no further cuts.
The union has said that class sizes in Irish primary schools are already back at 2002 levels.
It has said that a one point increase would put primary school classes back to 1997 levels.
Irish primary class sizes are already the second highest in the EU with almost 100,000 Irish children in classes of 30 pupils or more.
The Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland said any further cuts to second-level education services would cause unimaginable damage to Ireland's education system.
It said that existing education cutbacks are already devastating the second-level school system.
The ASTI said that schools already have been forced to drop subjects that are vital to the country's economic recovery such as science subjects and modern languages.
The secondary schools' union said that pastoral care initiatives are also being curtailed, denying young people at risk of dropping out of the school system appropriate opportunities.
The Teachers' Union of Ireland has said attacks made two years ago on the education system caused immeasurable damage and are still affecting the education of young people.
The TUI called the decision to safeguard education under the revised Programme for Government 'one of the few decent and vaguely redemptive moves taken by the Government.'
Focusing on reports that a fee of €500 may be imposed on Post Leaving Cert students, it says this would have a devastating effect on the most vulnerable in society.
The union says the suggested doubling of the registration fee for third level is similarly a regressive move
In a reference to State funding for fee paying schools, the union has called on the Government to look at funding that is directed at privilege rather than seeking again to further disadvantage the already disadvantaged.
The TUI says the maintenance of privilege in any sphere, particularly in education, cannot be allowed.
