John Bruton
Ceist:327 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Education the current average pupil-teacher ratio in primary schools; and the cost of reducing this by one.
Written Answers. - Pupil-Teacher Ratio.
John Bruton
Ceist:328 Mr. J. Bruton asked the Minister for Education the current maximum allowable number of students per class teacher in primary schools; and the cost of reducing this maximum by one.
I propose to take Questions Nos. 327 and 328 together. The maximum allowable number of students per class teacher in primary schools is 39 in the case of a single grade class group; 38 in the case of a class group with two consecutive grades; and 35 in the case of a multi-grade class group.
The school authorities and in particular the principal teacher are responsible for the arrangement of classes to ensure that these numbers are not exceeded in any class group.
The current average pupil-teacher ratio in national schools, based on the enrolments in September 1989 and the number of teachers currently employed is 27:1.
A reduction by one unit in the enrolment figure for appointment and retention of teachers in national schools would result in approximately 500 additional teaching posts at an annual cost of £8 million. Approximately half of these additional posts would be new teaching posts.