asked the Minister for Education if she will make a statement on the number of primary schools that may not allow pupils to repeat sixth class and her Department's regulation that pupils repeating classes may not be counted for the purposes of staffing.
Written Answers. - Primary School Repeat Classes.
28.
In Circular 10/67, issued to school authorities in March 1967, it was indicated that the normal procedure should be that a pupil be promoted to a higher standard in a national school at the end of each school year; that no pupil should be held back for longer than one year throughout his national school career and that usually the retention of a pupil in a class for a second year should take place only in the third or fourth standard; that pupils may be enrolled in a post-primary school after completion of the normal national school course, i.e. after having spent one year in the sixth standard.
In the case of an individual pupil who has completed sixth standard, should the school authorities seek his retention for a further period in the national school, my Department would be prepared to consider the school's appeal on its merits and would have an assessment made of the educational considerations involved.