Arthur Morgan (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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Question 572: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of primary school students in County Louth who are in classes of 30 or more; and if this is an increase on 2004. [32374/05]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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In the 2004-05 school year a total of 3,754 primary school pupils — provisional figure — were taught in classes of 30 or more pupils in County Louth. The 2005-06 census of primary schools has commenced. As the census date is 30 September 2005 it will be some months before all school returns have been received and processed in my Department. When this process has been completed class details for 2005-06 will be available.

The Deputy should be aware that the number of children in classes of more than 30 nationally has halved since this Government took office. Major improvements in school staffing have been made in recent years with the hiring of more than 4,500 additional teachers. This represents the largest increase in teacher numbers since the expansion of free education. The annual estimated value of the additional expenditure on these posts is more than €200 million.

In 1996-97, the average class size in our primary schools was 27. It is now 24. In 1996-97 there was one teacher for every 22 children in our primary schools. Today there is one teacher for every 17 children, the lowest pupil teacher ratio in the history of the State.

Aside from decreasing average class size, the unprecedented increase in school staffing in recent years has also greatly improved the services provided for children with special needs and those from disadvantaged areas. While there is more to be done to reduce class sizes further, it should be acknowledged how much progress has been made in this area in recent years.

While the average class size nationally has been brought down to 24, I am committed, in line with Government policy, to delivering further reductions in class sizes for the under nines. In achieving the Government target for smaller class sizes, priority must, in the first instance, be given to children with special needs and those in disadvantaged areas. Under the new action plan for tackling education disadvantage which I launched last May, more children in disadvantaged schools will be in classes of 20 in the current school year.

With regard to the number of classes of more than 30 in our schools, the general rule is that schools are staffed on the basis of having a maximum class size across the school of 29. Where some classes in a school have class sizes of greater than 29, it is often because a decision has been taken at local level to use their teaching resources to have smaller numbers in other classes.