Dáil Éireann Debate, Thursday - 29 June 2023
83. Deputy Peadar Tóibín asked the Minister for Education the steps her Department is taking to reduce class sizes in primary schools throughout the country; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [31846/23]
View answerIf we were to reduce class sizes by just two pupils throughout the country, it would make an enormous different to the lives, education and future of children. The Irish National Teachers Organisation, INTO, has said it would cost only €13 million in budget 2024 and would bring us into line with the rest of the EU. This would be particularly important for DEIS schools and children with special educational needs. Will the Minister commit to that objective for budget 2024?
Under the programme for Government, there is a commitment to make further progress in reducing the pupil-teacher ratios, PTRs, in primary schools. I am very pleased to have been able to introduce three successive PTR reductions in each of the past three budgets. I know the significance of this and that the Deputy is very conscious of it. Indeed, it is a measure that has been welcomed right across the board.
Budget 2023 provided an additional €588 million in funding for education. This significant increase built on recent budgets and further enhanced the investment in primary and post-primary education. The significant increased investment reflects the Government’s commitment to a quality, inclusive, school system.
For the current school year, the staffing schedule operates on a general average of 24 pupils to every one teacher, which is historically low. More favourable ratios are implemented for DEIS urban band 1 schools. Budget 2023 has implemented a further one-point reduction for the coming 2023-24 school year. That will operate on a ratio of 1:23 pupils in September 2023.
In budget 2021, I also introduced a three-point reduction in the retention schedule, which assists schools that would otherwise be at risk of losing teaching posts. The recent announcement in budget 2023 will further reduce this retention schedule by virtue of the one-point improvement to the staffing schedule that helps to ensure better teacher retention in primary schools while also ensuring that fewer pupils are required to retain or recruit a teacher.
The numbers employed in our schools have now reached the highest ever. Teacher numbers at primary level have increased by more than 5,000 compared to the 2017-18 school year. This has led to a steady improvement in the pupil-teacher ratio and average class size statistics during this period. The latest figures in relation to pupil-teacher ratios show an improved ratio of teachers to pupils from 15.3:1 to 13.7:1 at primary level when comparing the 2017-18 school year to the 2021-22 school year. This compares favourably with the OECD pupil-teacher ratio, which is 1:15.
In the same period, the primary staffing schedule improved from 27:1 to 24:1 for the current school year and will be 23:1 for the 2023-24 school year. Average class sizes in primary schools improved from 24.5 to 22.8 in the same period.
The 2023 budget announcements will continue the positive trend of improving class sizes for the current school year and statistics on this will be published in the next few weeks. I am conscious of the staffing schedule and the need to prioritise teacher allocations in primary schools, given their vital role. I am looking at how best to make further progress in reducing the primary teacher ratio in the context of the overall programme for Government and the budget.
It sounds like a small thing to reduce a class size by two or even just by one, but it is something that will make a significant difference to children in the State. Primary schools are significantly neglected in funding when compared to secondary schools. Primary schools receive a capitation grant and, when that is calculated, it translates to approximately €1 per child per day to cover the costs associated with running the school. Secondary schools get almost double the funding. I would love if the Minister could explain to teachers and staff of primary schools around the country why that is.
Figures from the OECD reveal that Ireland is spending 12% less per pupil in primary school than other developed countries. Obviously, with inflation and everything else, schools are struggling to meet the costs of electricity etc. and many schools are relying on fundraising to keep their school above water. The key issue is why there is a disparity between pupils in primary and secondary schools. Why are we 12% less than many OECD countries?
I want to be very clear that there have been significant advancements and improvements. The Deputy referred specifically to primary school education in the context of the current Government. Specifically in terms of capitation, I want to acknowledge that the demands at primary level are very different from the demands at post-primary level. The demands at post-primary level are very different from the demands at primary level.
Notwithstanding that, I want to point to some of the advances in primary education. As I have already mentioned - historically this has never happened before - in three successive budgets we have seen the pupil-teacher ratio in primary schools being reduced. In September of this year it will be at a historic low of 23:1. No other Government has ever made an advancement of that nature over three years of Government.
Second, free schoolbooks will be in operation in our primary schools from September of this year. This is a landmark move in education and it has never happened before. In terms of counselling services, which is an area that has never been provided for in primary school education, for the first time we are running a pilot across the country to make provision of that nature available. Hot school meals are being made available in our primary schools. This will be for the DEIS primary schools initially and will be in all our primary schools over time. There are significant advancements in the area of education for primary schools.
I wanted to raise a slightly related issue, if I may, because of the number of parents who have called my office in recent times on this issue. The Government is imposing a new social, personal and health education, SPHE, curriculum on children as young as 12 years old in secondary schools. Much of the content of this is ideologically based and is not scientifically based. The textbooks that have been published have actually gone significantly further down the ideological road than even the curriculum. Parents’ groups, women's groups and psychotherapists have said that the textbooks contain misleading and unscientific content. I understand the Minister herself does not agree with some of the content that is published in these books.
We live in a pluralist Republic. This is meant to mean that we have a pluralist education system where parents are supposed to have the right to choose the school value system or ethos that represents them. Yet, the Minister has said that all schools must implement this ideological curriculum. She is deleting parental choice on this. She has said that parents can withdraw children, but if parents are forced to withdraw children in effect those children are being excluded from those classes. This is potentially exclusionary for thousands of children. What impact assessment has the Minister done on how this will affect children in the future?
There is a wide acknowledgement that it is important that we keep the curricula in our schools up to date and current so that they meet the needs of all our children and young people. The Deputy will be aware that the curricula are developed by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment, NCCA, which is constituted of all within the education sector. That includes all the voices in the education sector. The Deputy will be aware that the SPHE and relationships and sexuality education, RSE, programmes were done as a consequence of the work of the NCCA and were also borne of widespread consultation. The Deputy-----
It did not listen to the consultation from parents.
-----will be aware that the publication of the SPHE and RSE curriculum was broadly welcomed by many stakeholders, including parents' bodies nationally and Catholic bodies’ representatives. He will have heard them articulate that we need to have a curriculum that meets the challenges of the day.
Sure.
The curricula are being provided for. On a point of clarification, it is a provision for those at junior cycle. The work is under way for senior cycle. That is currently under way. I will also specifically say that if there is any aspect of the programme that parents are not happy with and if they wish to withdraw their child, they have an absolute right to do that.
That is exclusionary.
There is no question of it being imposed.
