Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 9 October 2014
191. Deputy Micheál Martin asked the Minister for Education and Skills if she has received correspondence from a school (details supplied) in County Cork regarding the pupil-teacher ratio; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [38635/14]
View answerMy Department does not have a record of correspondence from the school referred to by the Deputy. If he wishes to provide a copy of correspondence, I will arrange for the issue raised by the school to be addressed. At primary level the staffing schedule operates in a clear and transparent manner and treats all similar types of schools equally irrespective of location. The configuration of classes and the deployment of classroom teachers are done at local school level.
Schools with significantly increasing enrolments are catered for within the staffing arrangements by being allocated teachers on the basis of their current pupil numbers rather than on a previous year basis which is the case for the majority of schools.
The staffing appeals process has been extended to include a new criterion which helps those schools that make a significant contribution to the provision of school places, which assists the response to demographic growth within their area, and as a result are under significant pressure on their class sizes at infants level.
The staffing arrangements for the current school year are set out in Circular 0007/2014 which is available on the website.
The national average class size at primary level is 24.7 pupils. However, with over 21,100 classes in over 3,100 primary schools throughout the country there will always be variations in class sizes at individual school level. My Department's guidance to local school management is that such variations should be kept to the minimum.
