Pupil-Teacher Ratio.

Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 22 March 2007

Thursday, 22 March 2007

Questions (10, 11, 12, 13)

Dan Neville

Question:

10 Mr. Neville asked the Minister for Education and Science the most up-to-date figures regarding the number of children in primary classes of 25 to 29 children inclusive; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10763/07]

Paul McGrath

Question:

24 Mr. P. McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Science the most up-to-date figures regarding the number of children in primary classes of 30 to 34 children inclusive; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10764/07]

Fergus O'Dowd

Question:

59 Mr. O’Dowd asked the Minister for Education and Science the most up-to-date figures regarding the number of children in primary classes of 35 to 39 children inclusive; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10765/07]

Paul McGrath

Question:

105 Mr. P. McGrath asked the Minister for Education and Science the most up-to-date figures regarding the number of children in primary classes (details supplied); if she will provide this information on a county basis; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10772/07]

Written answers

Minister for Education and Science (Ms Hanafin)

I propose to take Questions Nos. 10, 24, 59 and 105 together.

Major improvements have been made in staffing at primary level in recent years. There are now 5,000 more primary teachers than there were in 2002. We are already committed to hiring another 800 extra primary teachers next September. The average class size in our primary schools is 24 and there is now one teacher for 17 pupils at primary level, including resource teachers etc.

The latest figures in relation to the number of children in different class size groupings relate to the 2005/06 school year. In that year, 2,020 children were in classes of 0-9; 60,671 were in classes of 10-19; 105,797 were in classes of 20-24; 162,365 were in classes of 25-29; 101,223 were in classes of 30-34; 9,684 were in classes of 35-39; and 206 were in classes of 40 and over. I have a breakdown of these figures on a county basis and my officials will send this to the Deputies.

I'm sure you will be glad to know that the number of children in large classes has decreased significantly under this Government. There are 80,000 less children in classes of 30 or more, while the number of children in classes of 35 and over is just a fifth of the 1997 level.

As you'll be aware, all primary schools are staffed on a general rule of at least one classroom teacher for every 28 children. Of course, schools with only one or two teachers have much lower staffing ratios than that — with two teachers for just 12 pupils in some cases and so on — but the general rule is that there is at least one classroom teacher for every 28 children in the school. Next September this will reduce to 27 children per classroom teacher.

School authorities are requested to ensure that the number of pupils in any class is kept as low as possible, taking all relevant contextual factors into account (e.g. classroom accommodation, fluctuating enrolment). In particular, school authorities should ensure that there is an equitable distribution of pupils in mainstream classes and that the differential between the largest and smallest classes is kept to a minimum.

A further initiative that has been of direct benefit to primary schools has been the change in the criteria for developing schools. For the current school year the threshold for getting a developing school post was reduced specifically to help schools that are seeing large increases in enrolments each year. Over 280 such posts were sanctioned in the 2006/07 school year compared to 170 in 2005/06.

The improvements we have made in school staffing in recent years are absolutely unparalleled. I assure the Deputy that we will continue to prioritise further improvements going forward. We will also continue our focus on measures to improve the quality of education in our primary schools to ensure that increased resources lead to better outcomes for our children.

Number of Pupils (In Ordinary Classes) by Class Size Range and County (2005/2006)

	0-9 Pupils	10-19 Pupils	20-24 Pupils	25-29 Pupils	30-34 Pupils	35-39 Pupils	40 & Over Pupils	Total
Carlow	8	462	1,353	2,270	1,304	142		5,539
Cavan	32	1,282	2,199	2,334	1,552	285		7,684
Clare	150	1,740	3,242	3,504	2,476	640	41	11,793
Cork City	60	2,930	3,324	4,193	2,754	286		13,547
Cork County	192	3,769	8,166	13,401	9,592	1,792	44	36,956
Donegal	154	2,789	4,904	5,914	3,300	185		17,246
Dublin South		3,501	5,796	10,541	6,495	245		26,578
Dublin City	56	8,811	10,000	13,346	8,133	360		40,706
Dublin Fingal		1,251	3,122	10,775	9,021	322		24,491
Dún Laoghaire/Rathdown	16	1,413	2,567	6,379	4,989	248		15,612
Galway City	9	1,094	1,165	2,066	1,366	35		5,735
Galway County	292	3,979	4,987	5,073	2,830	214	40	17,415
Kerry	105	2,252	4,161	4,969	2,898	70		14,455
Kildare		990	3,761	10,437	6,351	531		22070
Kilkenny	9	1,248	2,126	3,332	2,383	176		9,274
Laois	26	816	1,641	3,169	1,466	72		7,190
Leitrim	32	819	861	953	160	146		2971
Limerick City	27	1,249	1,491	1,973	1,392	106		6,238
Limerick County	104	1,719	3,371	5,184	2,758	212		13,348
Longford	80	699	997	1,292	471	71		3,610
Louth		1,097	2,967	5,260	3,731	282		13,337
Mayo	228	3,264	3,654	4,204	1,654	186		13,190
Meath	24	1,201	3,586	7,827	5,220	757		18,615
Monaghan	52	926	1,785	2,126	1,139	214		6,242
Offaly	25	1,000	2,413	3,516	1,684			8,638
Roscommon	138	1,622	1,867	1,685	721	148	40	6,221
Sligo	49	1,226	2,133	1,911	975	143		6,437
Tipperary N.R.	21	1,131	2,612	2,515	913	106	41	7,339
Tipperary S.R.	30	1,397	3,273	2,882	1,358	284		9,224
Waterford City		342	1,272	2,668	1,021	72		5,375
Waterford County	9	863	1,723	2,771	1,109	248		6,723
Westmeath	40	1,004	2,416	3,352	2,282	144		9,238
Wexford	27	1,449	3,797	5,922	3,503	497		15,195
Wicklow	25	13,36	3,065	4,621	4,222	465		13,734
Total	2,020	60,671	105,797	162,365	101,223	9,684	206	441,966