Bernard Durkan (Kildare North, Fine Gael)
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Question 305: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of primary or second level schools here which have a higher than average pupil-teacher ratio; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [6014/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The Department of Education and Science does not keep figures on pupil-teacher ratio, PTR, on a school-by-school basis. However, significant improvements have been made in the PTR nationally at both primary and second level in recent years. At primary level, the PTR has dropped from 22.3:1 to 17.1:1 between 1996-97 and 2004-05. This reflects the fact that 5,000 extra primary teachers have been hired by the Government in recent years. In the case of second level, it has fallen from 16:1 in the 1996-97 school year to 13.4:1 in the 2004-05 school year.