Pádraic McCormack (Galway West, Fine Gael)
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Question 550: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the plans her Department has to provide an extra class teacher as a matter of urgency from September 2005 for a school (details supplied) in County Galway where current staffing levels are extremely inadequate with the average class size presently at 27 pupils; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [8758/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The mainstream staffing of a primary school is determined by applying the enrolment of the school on 30 September of the previous school year to a staffing schedule, agreed between my Department and the education partners. The system for allocating teachers to primary schools is based on ensuring an overall maximum class of 29 in each school. Where some classes in a school have class sizes of greater than 29, it is generally because a decision has been taken at local level to use their teaching resources to have smaller numbers in other classes.

In accordance with the staffing schedule, the staffing of the school referred to by the Deputy for the school year 2004-05 is a principal and eight mainstream class teachers, based on an enrolment of 207 pupils at 30 September 2003. In addition, the school has the services of a learning support teacher and two resource teachers.

The school is included in the rural dimension of my Department's Giving Children an Even Break programme. The school is benefiting from supplementary funding and has the services of a rural co-ordinator under the programme to provide additional educational supports to be targeted at disadvantaged pupils. My Department will finalise the staffing schedule for the 2005-06 school year shortly and thereafter notify school boards of management.

According to data submitted to my Department by the board of management, the enrolment on 30 September 2004 in the school was 212 pupils. The staffing for the 2005-06 school year will be determined on the basis of this figure and in accordance with the agreed staffing schedule.