At the outset I should point out that this school year is seeing the first allocation of additional teachers to second level schools for some years. This year provision was made for 225 additional teachers and this, together with the retention of some 130 teachers who would otherwise have been redeployed, is enabling us to provide a remedial teaching service in every second level school and also to bring all disadvantaged schools into the home school liaison scheme. I have also made improvements in the provisions available for guidance in our schools with a guaranteed minimum allocation now available to every school.
In addition to providing for additional teachers, I have, this year, introduced a new retention ratio for secondary schools. The impact of this is to retain in schools teachers who would otherwise be liable to be redeployed. In all some 150 teachers have been retained under this initiative and these teachers will continue to be available to improve the quality of education in our schools.
At second level the issue of disadvantage is closely linked to the incidence of early school leaving. For that reason I have put in place a number of initiatives focused on this difficult and intractable problem. In addition to the eight to 15 initiative, a new stay in school initiative is now commencing.
The issue of class size in second level schools is very complex. Analysis of this issue conducted by my Department indicates a very varied pattern of class size across the second level sector. In general senior cycle classes are appreciably smaller than those at junior cycle and the pattern across subjects can vary significantly. It is in the nature of some subjects that they attract a relatively small cohort while traditionally core subjects account for larger classes. It is also the case that schools with like enrolments and resources can have quite different patterns of class size.
I am sure the Deputy will agree that the principal concern in relation to class size must be the impact on educational attainment. In this regard, the great body of research indicates that the major impact of class size is to be found in the early years of primary education and for disadvantaged groups in particular.
In the 1998-99 school year the pupil-teacher ratio at second level was approximately 15.4:1. Allowing for the increase of some 225 teachers and a projected drop in enrolments, it is expected that the pupil-teacher ratio will reduce to approximately 15.1:1 in the current school year. This represents a decline in the actual PTR from that which prevailed in the 1970s. Within the current PTR there are a large number of very small classes.