Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 21 October 2014
543. Deputy Thomas P. Broughan asked the Minister for Education and Skills her views on a decrease in class sizes in senior DEIS schools such that there would be a pupil-teacher ratio of 20:1 in these schools. [40453/14]
Amharc ar fhreagraUnder the DEIS Action Plan, the 150 urban primary schools serving communities with the highest concentrations of disadvantage have maximum class size of 20:1 in all junior classes and 24:1 in all senior classes. There are no plans to change this programme measure. As the Deputy may be aware, the DEIS programme is the subject of ongoing evaluation by both the Educational Research Centre and my Department's Inspectorate who have produced a series of evaluation reports to date, (copies of which are available on my Department's website). I have also recently commissioned a further overall report in relation to DEIS to provide recommendations for a renewal of Government policy in relation to educational disadvantage, including DEIS. Work on this report is currently underway. The current focus of my Department is on this ongoing evaluation and distilling the learning from the research to date while awaiting the outcome of the aforementioned report. My key priority is to continue to prioritise and target resources at schools with the most concentrated levels of disadvantage.
