Vol. 466 No. 1
157 Mr. O'Dea asked the Minister for Education if she will include a school (details supplied) in Limerick in the new staffing ratio of 15 pupils per class from infants to second class; if her attention has been drawn to the fact that it is designated as educationally disadvantaged but is due to lose a teacher in September 1996 in view of the current staffing levels which will result in dual classes. [11009/96]
As the Deputy is aware, a post will be suppressed at the school in question at the end of the current school year. This is because the enrolment at the school has declined to 225 pupils in September 1995 from 254 pupils in September 1994.
Accordingly, for the 1996-97 school year, the authorised staffing for this school is a principal and seven assistants. Additionally, the school has the services of a concessionary post, on account of its disadvantaged status, as well as the services of remedial and home school liaison teachers.
I recently announced an important new initiative aimed at breaking the cycle of educational disadvantage in targeted areas of particular need.
For urban schools, a targeted programme of supports will be made available to twenty-five selected schools in designated areas of disadvantage in the Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Waterford and Galway urban areas. One of these supports will be a new maximum of 15 pupils in junior classes.
For rural schools, a special initiative will focus on schools with fewer than five teachers, and particularly on schools in rural areas serving dispersed populations. Supports will be made available to twenty-five clusters of schools in this category, each cluster having a combined enrolment of some 300 to 350 pupils.
The Education Research Centre has been commissioned to approach schools in the target groups and areas and invite their participation in this new initiative. I would expect that the schools in question will be contacted in the near future. It is thus too early to say whether the school referred to by the Deputy will be selected to benefit from the new initiative.
