Brendan Howlin
Question:45 Mr. Howlin asked the Minister for Education the number of national schools which do not have a remedial teacher; and if she will make a statement on the matter.
Written Answers. - Remedial Teachers.
At present, there are 945 remedial teachers operating within the primary school sector. This includes the 80 remedial teachers appointed at the beginning of the current school year as part of a special allocation of resources under the Programme for Economic and Social Progress. These additional 80 posts enabled a remedial service to be provided to an additional 242 primary schools.
Remedial posts are allocated on the basis of priority of need and in recent years the level of coverage achieved has been significantly improved as the following demonstrates:
|
1987-88 |
1990-91 |
|
|
Number of primary pupils |
554,000 |
532,000 |
|
Number of remedial teachers |
835 |
945 |
|
(1991/92) |
Of the 3,235 ordinary national schools in the country, approximately 1,480 have the services of a remedial teacher either on a full-time or shared basis. At this stage, all primary schools (who sought a remedial service) with enrolments above 420 have at least one remedial teacher and many more smaller schools have the service on a shared basis.
My Department will be keeping the appointment of additional remedial teachers under review.