Terence Flanagan
Ceist:
236
Deputy Terence Flanagan
asked the
Minister for Education and Skills
the position regarding proposed cuts in teaching posts in a school (details supplied) in County Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
[31902/12]
Amharc ar fhreagra
Minister for Education and Skills (Deputy Ruairí Quinn): The criteria used for the allocation of teachers to schools is published annually on my Department’s website. The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level is the staffing schedule for the relevant school year and pupil enrolments on the previous 30 September. The staffing schedule for the 2012-2013 school year, Circular 0007/2012, is available on my Department’s website. The staffing arrangements in schools for the 2012/2013 school year can also be affected by changes in their enrolment, the impact of budget measures and the reforms to the teacher allocation process. The existing staffing appeals criteria have been extended to enable limited phasing arrangements for schools where the combination of budget and reform measures impact in a particularly adverse manner on a school’s overall allocation. Details of the criteria for appeal are contained in the Department’s Staffing Circular 0007/2012. The final staffing position for all schools will ultimately not be known until the Autumn. At that stage the allocation process will be fully completed and all appeals to the Staffing Appeals Board will have been considered.
The configuration of classes and the deployment of classroom teachers are done at local school level. My Department publishes annual statistics on class size data for each school. The most recent statistics are for the 2010/11 school year. The national average class size is 23.9 pupils. However, with over 20,600 classes in over 3,100 primary schools throughout the country there will always be variations in class sizes at individual school level. My Department's guidance to local school management is that such variations should be kept to the minimum.
