Vol. 537 No. 5
106 Mr. Durkan asked the Minister for Education and Science the extent to which pupil-teacher ratios have been reduced to a level in accordance with international standards, with particular reference to other countries in the European Union and in view of the need for Irish students to have a competitive edge in the international workforce; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [17102/01]
At second level, I have provided for an additional 1,000 posts to be created in the current school year. A proportion of these posts have been utilised to facilitate the reduction in the pupil-teacher ratio for appointment purposes from 19:1 to 18:1. The rest have been targeted at particular programmes such as the leaving certificate applied, the junior certificate school programme and the Stay-in-School retention initiative.
Since the 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. In addition, a further 45 posts that arose from the retention of the demographic dividend are also allocated for the 2001-02 school year.
I expect that the overall parent-teacher ratio for the 2001-02 school year for primary schools will be 19.2:1. This compares with an overall parent-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 teachers between the 2002-03 and 2003-04 school years, which will lower the ratio further.
