John O'Mahony (Mayo, Fine Gael)

I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this matter — the plight of Craggagh, Killawalla and Tooreen national schools — for discussion. This is a representation of the small rural primary schools in my constituency that will be dramatically affected if the class sizes are increased, as stated in the recent budget. I could mention others, such as Bonniconlon, Attymass, Lahardaun, Carn, Murrisk, Breaffy and Ballina Rehins, but I want to concentrate on Craggagh, Killawalla and Tooreen for now.

Craggagh and Killawalla national schools provide a wonderful education in their rural community, where the children are being taught in classes of a manageable size. They had 48 children on the rolls in September 2008, which would allow them to keep their third teacher in 2009. The projected numbers will increase to over 50 in September 2009. As the staffing levels for September 2009 are based on the September 2008 figures, they will lose their third teacher, although they had the required number of students for three teachers on both dates. The problem arises because staffing levels for September 2009 are based on the figures for 2008. Surely some flexibility can be shown in these schools because of the dramatic effects involved. I am talking about the fact that one third of the staff will lose their jobs and, in addition, there will be four classes in each classroom. The public may think that the pupil-teacher ratio is being increased by one, but in these schools the class size will increase in each case by ten pupils.

If a teacher is absent due to the removal of substitution at short notice, one teacher would teach more than 50 students in a classroom. One can imagine the effect of a 12-teacher school losing four teachers or a nine-teacher school losing three teachers — it would cause mayhem. In the cases I have cited, however, only one teacher is being lost, but people forget that represents one third of the staffing levels.

St. Brigid's national school in Tooreen, County Mayo, will have increased numbers in 2009 as well. The school will be unable to appoint a fourth mainstream teacher because staffing levels are based on 2008 figures. The situation is exactly the same as the other schools, except that in this case it concerns a fourth teacher. The net result on the ground in Tooreen is that 32 children will be in one classroom and 28 in another. This will make it impossible to cater for the individual needs of all children in the classroom, or to implement the new curriculum effectively.

To give an example, I was contacted by a parent in Tooreen school whose six-year-old son has been diagnosed with special needs. From September 2009, he will be in a class of 32 children if something is not done. At the moment he is making good progress in the smaller class, but one can imagine how his progress will suffer with the bigger numbers. A little flexibility would make a huge difference in Craggagh, Killawalla and Tooreen schools.

On "Questions and Answers" last night, the Minister, Deputy Batt O'Keeffe, said that no school in DEIS areas will lose a teacher. Was he talking about DEIS schools in urban areas, because rural DEIS schools get no staffing concessions? I would like the Minister of State to clarify that point in his reply. Even if it were true for rural areas, which I doubt, it would not provide the flexibility for non-DEIS schools, some of which are also affected.

I appeal to the Minister to re-examine the special situation pertaining to small rural primary schools. I ask him to find out how many schools and teaching positions it would affect. I think it would only be a small number across the country. If the Minister could examine those numbers nationwide the solution would not amount to a major investment, but it would make an enormous difference to the delivery of a quality education system in small rural schools.

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