asked the Minister for Education if he will elaborate on his reply to a parliamentary question on 21 March 1979 wherein he stated his commitment to flexibility on pupil-teacher ratio in disadvantaged areas where schools could lose a teacher because of falling pupil numbers and indicating in particular the reduction in this ratio which would be permitted before such action would be taken in (i) a three-teacher national school and (ii) a two-teacher school in such areas.
Written Answers. - Pupil-Teacher Ratio .
235.
: The rules governing the retention of teachers in national schools are of general application. Where, however, a school caters in the main for disadvantaged pupils, I am prepared to consider on its merits a relaxation of these rules in relation to particular appointments.