Martin Heydon (Kildare South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

There is a slight error in my submission for which I apologise. Rathangan boys' national school has nine teachers plus a principal. It is looking to go to ten mainstream teachers in the school year, 2016-17. The expected enrolment for 2016 is 270 pupils. This is well in excess of the 255 pupils required to have a principal plus ten mainstream teachers. The criteria used for the allocation of posts for the 2016-17 year looks at the enrolment on 30 September 2015. On 30 September 2015, the school had 254 pupils, just one short. Last September, the school applied for developing school status but was refused. It subsequently appealed this decision but was again refused.

The loss of a teacher will have a significant impact on the school, affecting the pupils most of all. In September, there will be 40 new entrants in junior infants, 37 in senior infants and 27 in first class. The Department prioritises infant classes to be as small as possible, so the principal will have a junior class of 25, a mixed junior-senior class of 25 and a first class of 27. If the extra teacher is not secured, the difference between class sizes in second and third class will be stark. Without the additional second teacher, second class will have 33 pupils and third class will have 37 pupils. With the additional second teacher, the principal estimates he would have 24 in second class, a combined second and third class of 23 and a third class of 23. Thirty-seven pupils to one teacher in third class is not teaching but crowd control.

Will common sense prevail and will the officials re-examine the case? I understand any national system which deals with thousands of pupils and staff has to have rules. However, there also has to be some mechanism for dealing with extreme changes in circumstances, as is the case with St. Patrick's national school in Rathangan, particularly when it is missing out by one pupil. Will the Minister review the case and allow a practical solution which could prevent excessive class sizes for a school of 270 pupils but which will only have nine mainstream teachers?

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