Vol. 211 No. 6
asked the Minister for Education if he will state with regard to the thirty-eight per cent of primary schools in Dublin with fifty or over pupils per class, in respect of what percentage arrangements have been completed to furnish the additional emergency accommodation needed to reduce the class size to whatever figure he considers is the optimum figure; and what is his optimum figure for pupils per class.
16.
asked the Minister for Education what is the estimated time before the optimum figure of pupils per class can be achieved by him either by emergency or long term methods.
With your permission, a Cheann Comhairle, I propose to take questions Nos. 15 and 16 together. With the reorganisation of classes which is taking place and the arrangements which have been made for the provision of prefabricated classrooms, I am satisfied that classes of over 50 in Dublin should be eliminated within the next twelve months.
I am aiming at having no class with more than 40 pupils. This target will be reached as additional teachers become available.
I welcome the answer the Minister has given but could he say, in view of the fact that this recommendation was made in the report of the Commission on Emigration as long ago as 1957, why it has taken so long for the Department to act?
What recommendation?
The reduction in the maximum size of classes.
It requires teachers to teach classes and class-rooms to accommodate them.
But this was in 1957, seven years ago.
Inside the past five years, the classes have been reduced and I know there has been a considerable improvement in the pupil-teacher ratio each year. In each Estimate I have introduced, there has been an improvement in the number of teachers available and therefore an improvement in the ratio.
I know that, but has the Minister any explanation as to why no attempt was made to find out in the Dublin area what was the pupil-teacher ratio until now?
All over the country, on average, because of the action which has been taken, the pupil-teacher ratio is at a figure which compares favourably with any standard anywhere in the world. A special problem exists in some of the larger centres, to a great extent due to the movement of population, and this problem is being dealt with now. That does not mean that it was never dealt with before. The problem is coming in its own time to be dealt with.
I asked the question in 1958.
There has been an improvement since then throughout the country.
You did not build houses and you did not build schools.
We built more schools than ever you built.
