Vol. 507 No. 4
226 Mrs. Owen asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will confirm an extra teacher for September 1999 for St. Nicholas of Myra national school, Kinsealy, County Dublin, in view of the closeness of the numbers to qualify for an additional teacher. [17023/99]
The staffing of primary schools is determined by reference to the enrolment of the school on 30 September of the previous school year. This is in accordance with guidelines agreed between this Department and the education partners.
The current staffing of St. Nicholas of Myra national school is a principal and six mainstream class teachers based on an enrolment of 192 as at 30 September 1997. The school also has the services of a shared remedial teacher. The enrolment as at 30 September 1998, on which the staffing for the 1999-2000 school year is based was 189 pupils. This means that the school will retain its existing staffing levels into the 1999-2000 school year.
Unfortunately, there is no basis whereby an additional teacher can be sanctioned for the next school year. The school's enrolment falls well short of the figure of 210 required for the appointment of the seventh assistant teacher.
