Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 1 December 2020
390. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Education the number of appeals by schools to retain their staffing levels and not lose a teacher in the 2020-21 academic year that were successful; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39773/20]
View answer391. Deputy Pádraig O'Sullivan asked the Minister for Education if Covid-19 is taken into consideration by the board of appeals when considering appeals of a reduction of staffing levels in a school; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [39774/20]
View answerI propose to take Questions Nos. 391 and 390 together.
The criteria used for the allocation of teaching posts is published annually on the Department website. The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources (teachers) provided at individual school level is the staffing schedule for the relevant school year and pupil enrolments on the previous 30 September. The staffing schedule operates in a clear and transparent manner and treats all similar types of schools equally, irrespective of location. For the current school year, it operates on a general average of 26 pupils to every 1 teacher (26:1) which is historically the lowest ever allocation ratio at primary level. In DEIS schools, the staffing schedule operates at a more preferential allocation ratio.
The staffing process includes an appeals mechanism for schools to submit a staffing appeal to the Primary Staffing Appeals Board under certain criteria as outlined in the staffing circular 18/2020.
This year the Department and the Primary Appeals Board are very cognisant of the impact of COVID-19 on schools and in that context has looked carefully at all decisions on the allocation of teaching posts where schools have reduced enrolments to ensure that all decisions are reasonable and all schools are treated fairly.
In relation to appeals dealt with by the Primary Appeals Board, 195 appeals were submitted by schools. These included schools that were due to lose a post and schools that sought to gain an additional teaching post based on projected enrolments. 14% of these schools were unsuccessful in their appeal with the main reason being instances where schools had forecasted a larger intake of pupils than materialised and in some cases the overall number of pupils returned on 30th September was lower than last’s years enrolment and did not warrant an additional teacher based on current staffing schedules.
