Vol. 402 No. 7
41 Mr. Barry asked the Minister for Education if her attention has been drawn to the fact that in St. John's Girls national school, Carrigaline, County Cork, nine of the 17 classes have more than 35 pupils; and the action she proposes to take to remedy the matter.
As the Deputy will be aware there is an agreement between the Government and the INTO regarding the staffing of national schools.
As part of this agreement my Department has implemented a reduction of one unit in the enrolment/staffing schedule for national schools from the 1 September, 1990. This agreement has led to an improvement in the pupil/teacher ratio in national schools for the 1990-91 school year.
Under existing arrangements negotiated under the auspices of the central review committee, school authorities, in particular the principal teacher, are responsible for arranging the organisation of the school so as to ensure that no class group exceeds the following guidelines set down by my Department. 30 (in the case of a single-grade class-group); 38 (in the case of a class-group with two consecutive grades); 35 (in the case of a multi-grade class-group).
The following is the position regarding enrolment in this school: Enrolment 30/9/88 — 564; Staffing for 89/90 — Principal plus 16 plus Remedial (plus two teachers on the Panel); Enrolment 30/9/89 — 580; Staffing for 90/91 — Principal plus 17 plus Remedial
There is no class in breach of the Department's guidelines on maximum class sizes and no application has been made by the board of management for the appointment of an additional assistant to the school.
42 Mr. Doyle asked the Minister for Education if her attention has been drawn to the fact that some classes at Sandford national school, Ranelagh, Dublin 6 have 36 pupils on register; if she has satisfied herself that pupils in these large classes can receive adequate basic tuition to give them a grounding for the future; and the steps she intends to take to improve the pupil/teacher ratio.
As the Deputy will be aware there is an agreement between the Government and the INTO regarding the staffing of national schools.
As part of this agreement my Department has implemented a reduction of one unit in the enrolment/staffing schedule for national schools from the 1 September, 1990. This agreement has led to an improvement in the pupil/teacher ratio in national schools for the 1990/91 school year.
Under existing arrangements negotiated under the auspices of the central review committee, school authorities, in particular the principal teacher, are responsible for arranging the organisation of the school so as to ensure that no class group exceeds the following guidelines set down by my Department. 39 (in the case of a single-grade class-group); 38 (in the case of a class-group with two consecutive grades); 35 (in the case of a multi-grade class-group).
The following is the position regarding enrolment in this school: enrolment 30-9-1988 — 188; staffing for 1989-90 — Principal plus five Assistants. Enrolment 30-9-89 — 185; staffing for 1990-91 — Principal plus five Assistants. Enrolment for 30-9-90 — 182.
The enrolment of 182 on the 30 September 1990 is organised as follows:
|
Standard |
No. of pupils |
Class size |
|
6th |
23 |
23 |
|
5th |
25 |
34 |
|
4th |
9 |
|
|
4th |
7 |
34 |
|
3rd |
27 |
|
|
2nd |
21 |
32 |
|
1st |
11 |
|
|
1st |
14 |
36 |
|
Senior Infants |
22 |
|
|
Junior Infants |
23 |
23 |
|
Total |
182 |
182 |
