Spain's Education Minister Jose Ignacio Wert indicated that class sizes in infant and primary education will almost certainly have to be increased by 20 percent in order to help reduce the deficit of the country's regional authorities.

Wert made the statement on Monday, a week after it was announced that 10,000 million euros (13,069 million U.S. dollars) would be cut from Spain's health and education budget. Out of this, around 3,000 million euros of cuts would be made in education.

Wert added that teachers in primary and secondary education will also be asked to conduct 25 hours of lessons a week. He requested teachers make the "sacrifice," adding he was willing to meet with them.

According to the education minister, teaching unions had greatly exaggerated how many classroom assistants would be let go as a result of the cuts.

It remains to be seen how unions will react to Wert's proposals. The year of 2011 saw a series of one-day strikes by teachers in Madrid against plans to increase class times to 22 hours a week.