Dáil Éireann díospóireacht -
Tuesday, 24 Oct 2000

Vol. 524 No. 5

Written Answers. - Class Sizes.

Richard Bruton

Ceist:

495 Mr. R. Bruton asked the Minister for Education and Science the number of classes and the number of children who are in classes of 30-34 pupils, 35-39 pupils, 40 or over pupils at primary school in the most recent year for which figures are available. [23077/00]

Minister for Education and Science (Dr. Woods):

The information requested by the Deputy is given in the following table for the school year 1999-2000.

Class Size	Number of Classes	Number of Pupils
30-34 Pupils	3,443	108,887
35-39 Pupils	559	20,006
40 or More Pupils	17	691

The information in the above table is based on data submitted to my Department by the managerial authorities of primary schools. The Deputy may be aware that an overall maximum class size guideline of 29:1 operates for schools designated as disadvantaged. The staffing schedule for the 2000-01 school year is structured to ensure that primary schools operate to a general maximum class size of 30 pupils.

Although the overall enrolment within a school may be organised within the recommended guidelines, some schools choose to organise their classes in such a way that some classes exceed the guidelines while others are well within the guidelines. Where the guidelines are breached in a particular class, therefore, this usually results from a conscious decision taken by the school management with a view to facilitating much smaller classes elsewhere in the school.

The Government since taking up office has introduced a range of initiatives to help reduce the pupil-teacher ratio in primary schools. The pupil-teacher ratio has declined from 22.2 : 1 in the 1996-97 school year to 20.4 : 1 in the 1999-2000 school year.

The retention of posts arising from the demographic dividend in the current year together with the creation of an additional 200 posts primarily to tackle educational disadvantage will reduce the overall pupil-teacher ratio in the 2000-01 school year to 19.6:1.

Furthermore, under the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, it is proposed to appoint an additional 900 primary teachers in the course of the next few years. These additional posts will ensure that the overall pupil-teacher ratio for primary schools will continue to decline.