asked the Minister for Education if she will give a commitment to fund the re-design of shared area schools, where requested, into individual classroom units, for example, Scoil Ard Mhuire, Belgard, Tallaght, Dublin 24.
Written Answers. - Shared Area Schools.
176.
It is my Department's general practice to grant aid the conversion of shared areas in national schools to traditional classrooms where recommended by its inspectorate.
An application for such conversion at Scoil Ard Mhuire, Belgard, Tallaght, Dublin 24, has not yet been received in my Department. On receipt of such an application from the school authorities the matter will be considred favourably and a decision reached at the earliest possible date.
177.
asked the Minister for Education if she will sanction extra staffing for schools operating the cooperative/shared area teaching methods.
The staffing of national schools is determined by the enrolment in the school on 30 September of the previous year. This is in accordance with the agreement reached between the Government and the INTO under the Programme for National Recovery.
Co-operative or shared teaching areas were provided in many schools constructed in recent years in order to facilitate use of co-operative and teamteaching methods. These are alternative methods available to the existing staffs and do not call for additional staffing. Accordingly, I do not propose to sanction additional staff for this purpose.