Vol. 402 No. 9
100 Mr. Doyle asked the Minister for Education if her attention has been drawn to the fact that some classes at St. Mary's National School, Belmont Avenue, Donnybrook, Dublin 4, have 37 pupils on the 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 proposes 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 have implemented a reduction of one unit in the enrolment-staffing schedule for national schools from 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) and 35 (in the case of a multi-grade class-group).
The following is the position regarding enrolment in this school:
Enrolment 30-9-88 —294.
