Vol. 537 No. 5
73 Mr. Bradford asked the Minister for Education and Science if he will announce improvements in the pupil-teacher ratio for the next school year for primary and post-primary schools; and if so, when he will make the announcement. [17055/01]
At second level, an additional 1,000 posts have been created in the current school year. A proportion of these posts has been utilised to facilitate the reduction in the pupil- teacher ratio for appointment purposes from 19:1 to 18:1. The balance has been targeted at particular programmes such as the leaving certificate applied, the junior certificate school programme and the stay in school retention initiative.
Since this Government came into office, the pupil-teacher ratio at second level has been reduced from approximately 16:1 to under 15:1 in the current year.
In accordance with the provisions of the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, an additional 200 posts will be created at second level in each of the next two years. This increase in posts, combined with an anticipated fall in enrolments, will result in further reductions in the pupil-teacher ratio in the sector.
At primary level, 350 new teaching posts are allocated for the 2001-02 school year. These posts were agreed under the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness. In addition, a further 45 posts which arose from the retention of the demographic dividend were also allocated for the 2001-02 school year. The allocation of the posts was finalised following discussions with representatives of the partners in education and the circular letter that outlined the staffing improvements for the 2001-02 school year issued recently to the boards of management of all schools.
I expect that the overall pupil-teacher ratio for the 2001-02 school year will be 19.2:1. This compares with an overall pupil-teacher ratio of 22.1:1 in the 1996-97 school year.
Under the Programme for Prosperity and Fairness, it is proposed to appoint an additional 550 primary school teachers between the 2002-03 and 2003-04 school years. I expect that discussions with the partners on the allocation of these posts for the 2002-03 school year will commence in December.
