Vol. 491 No. 7
206 Mr. McCormack asked the Minister for Education and Science the steps, if any, his Department is taking to eliminate the discrimination between rural and city schools in relation to the teacher to pupil ratio as a result of the breaking the cycle scheme introduced by his Department in 1996; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [13150/98]
I assume the Deputy is referring to the pupil teacher ratio of 15:1 which was introduced as part of the special support package for certain schools included in the urban dimension of the breaking the cycle pilot project.
I should first point out that this special ratio is strictly confined to the junior classes of the schools in question and does not have wider application within those schools.
The decision to include the reduced pupil teacher ratio as part of the support package for urban schools represents a distinct response to the assessed needs of those schools as identified in a detailed study of educational disadvantage conducted by the Combat Poverty Agency and the Education Research Centre.
In the case of both the urban and rural dimensions of the pilot project a specific package of support measures was devised to address the particular problems of educational disadvantage as manifested in urban and rural settings.
Many of the features of the supports provided are common to both urban and rural areas. For example, in both cases the selected schools are in receipt of special additional funding for the purchase of materials/equipment and to support out of school initiatives. Teachers in all the selected schools are being supported by special targeted in-career development. The schools selected to participate in the rural dimension of the scheme are grouped into 25 local clusters each of which is served by a special locally based co-ordinator.
