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Pupil-Teacher Ratio

Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 April 2013

Tuesday, 23 April 2013

Questions (259)

Pat Deering

Question:

259. Deputy Pat Deering asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will confirm that the pupil teacher ratio for English as an additional language, EAL, used to be 14:1; if he will indicate the ratio for the school year 2013/14; and if he has any concerns on this new ratio impacting negatively on literacy scores; if he will confirm the reductuion in the number of less EAL teachers there will be in schools in the next school year; and if he will provide a breakdown of the figures according to primary and post-primary. [18231/13]

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Written answers

Since September 2012 the combined resources available for learning support (General Allocation Model at Primary) and language support at both primary and second level have been merged into a single simplified allocation process. There are currently over 4,700 such posts allocated to schools at primary level and 777 posts at post primary level. This includes the standard learning/language support allocation that is given to all schools and the additional support that is provided to schools that have high concentrations of pupils that require language support. Further additional temporary language support posts are provided on the basis of appeals to the Staffing Appeal Boards.

The need to reform the allocation of the General Allocation Model at primary level arose because the existing system operated primarily on the basis of 2003 enrolments which are long out of date and had been criticised by the Ombudsman for Children. Schools now have autonomy on how to deploy the resource between language support and learning support depending on their specific needs. The new single allocation for the General Allocation Model (GAM) and language support is based on the number of classroom teaching posts in each school in the previous school year. This simplified approach to (GAM) will make it easier to automatically update it annually in line with the changes in the number of classroom teachers in each school.

The allocation process for the 2013/14 school year is currently underway in my Department and the staffing arrangements, including the appeals process, have been published on the Department website. The final staffing position for all schools will not be known until later in the year when the allocation process will be fully completed and all appeals to the Staffing Appeal Boards will have been considered.

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