Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 25 March 2014
282. Deputy Pat Breen asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will review the pupil-teacher criteria for small schools to allow for population fluctuations year-on-year in the interests of restoring certainty for the schools and communities involved (details supplied). [12888/14]
View answer391. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Education and Skills if he will grant necessary school status with less punitive pupil threshold requirements for mainstream teacher allocations to very isolated rural schools where there are no other nearby schools; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [14075/14]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 282 and 391 together.
The allocation of teaching posts to schools is done in a transparent manner using published criteria. Unlike most other areas of the public service teaching vacancies are being filled in accordance with the published criteria. Normally, the staffing of schools is determined by the enrolments of the previous September. However, the staffing arrangements also include provision for schools that are projecting significant increases in their enrolments for the start of the school year to be allocated additional classroom teachers. The staffing arrangements for the 2014/15 school year (Circular 0007/2014) were published in January, 2014.
As part of the Budget 2012 decisions, there is a phased increase in the number of pupils required to gain and retain a classroom teaching post in small primary schools with four teachers or less. The first phase of the budget measure took effect from September 2012. The final phase of the budget measure takes effect from September 2014.
An appeals process is available to small schools which have had their staff number reduced as a result of the budget measure. A school with four classroom teachers or less which is losing a teacher or failed to gain an additional teacher as a result of the Budget 2012 measure can submit an appeal to the Primary Staffing Appeals Board. In this regard small schools will not lose their classroom post if they are projecting sustainable increased enrolments in September 2014 that would be sufficient to allow them to retain their existing classroom posts over the longer term.
The Primary Staffing Appeals Board operates independently of the Department and its decision is final. Educational quality for the pupils has to be one of the main criteria in any consideration of primary school size. It is also necessary to consider the needs of local communities and of course there are wider social and cultural factors that need to be considered. Given our population growth, we have increasing enrolment at all levels of education which is expected to continue in the medium term. Many pupil places are required in areas that currently have no school provision at all and we have schools in areas of stable or declining population with relatively low pupil numbers.
Our current configuration of small primary schools has been examined by my Department in a value for money review which I am considering in consultation with my Government colleagues. My intention is to publish the report of the review on completion of this consideration process. It is expected that the report of the review process will provide a valuable evidence base which will help inform future policy direction in the area of small primary schools.
