Dáil Éireann debate -
Wednesday, 25 Apr 1990

Vol. 397 No. 9

Written Answers. - Class Sizes.

Tomás MacGiolla

Question:

357 Tomás Mac Giolla asked the Minister for Education if she will give (a) the average class size in all EC states in total at the most recent available date and (b) the number of pupils in classes above this size in this State as estimated by her Department at 30 September 1989.

Minister for Education (Mrs. O'Rourke)

Data concerning the average class size for EC states in total are not available. I have provided underneath a table which gives, for the countries indicated and where such data are available, the average class size at both primary and post-primary. The most recent academic year in respect of which such data are immediately to hand is 1982-83. My Department have asked the European Community if more recent information is available and I will, of course, pass on the relevant data to the Deputy if and when they become available.

Average Class Size 1982-83

	Primary	Post-Primary
Belgium
Dutch speaking	19.1	n.a.
Francophone	20.8	n.a.
Denmark	18.6	19.5
France
Public	22.4	n.a.
Private	25.3	n.a.
Germany (Federal Republic)	22.7	27.3 (1)
Greece	n.a.	n.a.
Ireland	31.2	n.a.
Italy	16.5	21.4 (1)
Luxembourg	15.8	20.9
Netherlands	24.8	n.a.
United Kingdom	25.1 (2)	22.1 (2)

n.a. = not available

(1) = Lower secondary schools only

(2) = England only

I have provided an additional table underneath which gives details of the number of national school classes and pupils classified by class size for the 1988-89 academic year. Data in respect of the 1989-90 academic year are only in the process of collection and preliminary analysis by my Department at the moment and an equivalent table in respect of the current school year is not yet available. Corresponding data are not available in respect of the post-primary sector.

National School Classes and Pupils Classified by Class Size 1988-89*

Class Size	Number of Classes	Number of Pupils
0-19	937	15,053
20-29	5,311	135,968
30-39	10,798	371,352
40 and over†	639	26,250
Total	17,685	548,623
Average Class Size: 31.0

* Data are provisional and refer to ordinary classes only. Special classes for handicapped children are excluded.

†There are 338 classes with a class size of 40 and 301 classes with a class size greater than 40.