Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 23 November 2021
386. Deputy Éamon Ó Cuív asked the Minister for Education the policy of her Department in relation to classroom size in primary schools; the minimum size of classroom permitted relative to the number of students in the class; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [57536/21]
View answerMy Department has in place detailed design guidelines for Primary & Post Primary School Accommodation. These guidelines, are available on my Department's web-site at gov.ie/en/publication/7e515-technical-guidance-documents. In primary schools, a mainstream classroom of 80m² in area is provided in the design of new school buildings and extensions to existing buildings. At post primary level, specifications vary with the purpose of the classroom.
The purpose of the Additional School Accommodation (ASA) scheme is to ensure that essential mainstream classroom and Special Education Needs (SEN) accommodation is available to cater for pupils enrolled each year, where the need cannot be met by the school’s existing accommodation.
The main focus of resources over the last decade and for the coming period is on provision of additional capacity to cater for increasing demographics. The second half of the National Development Plan will see an increasing focus on the upgrade and refurbishment of the existing school stock.
Schools can also avail of funding in respect of their accommodation under the Annual Minor Works Grant or the Summer Works Scheme.
The configuration of classes and the deployment of classroom teachers are done at local school level. My Department's guidance to schools is that the number of pupils in any class is kept as low as possible taking all relevant contextual factors into account, for example, classroom accommodation, fluctuating enrolment etc.
Under the Programme for Government there is a commitment to seek to make further progress in reducing the pupil teacher ratios in primary schools.
At primary level, the annual staffing schedule determines the allocation of teachers to schools. The current allocation is on an average ratio of 1 classroom teacher for every 25 pupils. Budget 2022 has implemented a further 1 point reduction for the 2022/23 school year so that primary schools will be allocated teaching posts on an average basis of 1 classroom teacher for every 24 pupils in September 2022. Lower thresholds apply to DEIS Urban Band 1 schools.
This Budget measure has brought the teacher allocation ratio in all primary schools to the lowest ever seen at primary level. This is the second successive Budget which has seen an improvement in allocation of teachers to primary schools.
The latest figures in relation to pupil teacher ratio shows an improved ratio of teachers to pupils from 16:1 to 14.5:1 at primary level when comparing the 2015/16 school year to the 2020/21 school year. This compares favourably with the OECD pupil teacher ratio which is 1:15. In the same period the staffing schedule improved from 28:1 to 25:1 for this school year.
Average class sizes improved from 24.9 to 23.3 in the same period. The most recent budget announcement will continue the positive trend of improving class sizes for this school year, and statistics on this will be published later in the year.
