Séamus Healy (Tipperary South, Independent)

In June 2002, the programme for Government read as follows:

Over the next five years, we will progressively introduce maximum class guidelines which will ensure that average size of classes for children under nine will be below the international best practice guideline of one in 20.

Three years later, the Government has failed to even take a small step forward in that direction. Unfortunately, we have significantly large class sizes, the second largest, if not the largest in Europe. This makes a mockery of the new primary school curriculum and its methodology, which is needed to ensure that teachers deliver it well.

In my own constituency of Tipperary South, the INTO has recently carried out a survey that found 47 primary classes in south Tipperary with 30 to 34 pupils. A total of eight primary classes have 35 or more pupils. A total of 1,815 primary pupils are in classes of 30 pupils or more and 288 of these are in classes of 35 or more. This means that 25% of primary school pupils in south Tipperary are in classes of more than 30 pupils. This situation simply cannot continue and it throws cold water on the introduction of the new primary school curriculum. The introduction to the curriculum states that all children have the right of access to the highest quality education appropriate to their needs. This includes children whose disabilities or circumstances inhibit their effective participation in the education that is normally provided for children of their age. How can progress be made on this and other issues in the curriculum when the Government refuses to implement its own guidelines, which it put forward in the programme for Government announced in June 2002? I call on the Minister and the Department to ensure that the commitment given in 2002 is honoured immediately.

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