Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 473: To ask the Minister for Education and Science her views on the implementation of the Irish National Teachers Organisation five point plan in relation to investing in children's futures, increased support for teachers, school infrastructure, support leadership and proper funding for primary schools in 2006. [17943/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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Major improvements in school staffing have been made in recent years with the hiring of more than 5,000 additional primary teachers. This represents the largest increase in teacher numbers since the expansion of free education. 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. Under DEIS (Delivering Equality of Opportunity in Schools) the action plan for educational inclusion that I launched in May, 2005, there will be a reduction in class sizes to 24:1 at senior level and 20:1 at junior level in the 180 primary schools serving communities with the highest concentrations of disadvantage. With more than 600 extra resource teachers put in place in this school year, children with special needs are getting more support than ever before. It should be acknowledged how much progress has been made in this area in recent years.

Recently I announced that I have secured sufficient funding to provide even smaller classes in our primary schools in the next school year, and the Minister for Finance has committed to a further reduction in class size in the following year. Accordingly, over the next 2 years, my Department will put 500 extra teachers into primary schools to reduce class size and to tackle disadvantage.

The mainstream staffing of a primary school is determined by reference to the enrolment of the school on the 30th September of the previous school year. The actual number of mainstream posts sanctioned is determined by reference to a staffing schedule which is issued annually to all primary schools.

At present the general rule is that the schedule provides at least one classroom teacher for every 29 pupils in the school. Of course, schools with only one or two teachers have much lower staffing ratios than that — with two teachers for just 12 pupils in some cases and so on — but the general rule is that there is at least one classroom teacher for every 29 children in the school. Next year this is being reduced to 28 children per classroom teacher and in 2007/2008 it will be reduced to 27 children per classroom teacher.

In speaking about staffing in our schools, we have consistently said that priority would be given in the first instance to children in disadvantaged schools and those with special needs. We have done this. And now, in line with the Government commitment, mainstream class sizes are also being reduced. Funding for In-Career Development for primary and post-primary teachers and other school support programmes expenditure (€ Millions) for the year 2006 is €35.05. This represents an increase of €1m over the 2005 expenditure figure.

I am pleased to say that over the past 10 years; more than €200 million has been invested by my Department in the area of continuous professional development for teachers and other school personnel. During this time my Department has developed teacher education as a continuum, running from pre-service training, induction through to programmes of continuous professional development. Among other things, this investment has seen very significant increases in the provision of training for school personnel working with pupils with special educational needs and pupils in schools designated disadvantaged. In addition, my Department is continuing to build capacity within the Education Centre network in order to continue to develop a comprehensive and coherent provision of professional development opportunities for local school communities.

Other areas of support include my Department's Leadership Development for Schools (LDS), which has been extended substantially, enabling it not only to reach more principals and their deputies, but also to develop training for aspirant school leaders. I see this latter aspect as an important way to encourage more teachers to become school principals giving them the chance to gain new skills and to consider their suitability to become a principal or deputy principal in the future. The Deputy will also be aware that I recently established the Teaching Council, which will focus on teaching and learning in schools. Among the objectives of the Teaching Council that will support Teaching and learning are:

∙to regulate the teaching profession and the professional conduct of teachers,

∙to establish and promote the maintenance and improvement of standards in teacher education and training,

∙to promote the continuing education, training and professional development of teachers.

In time, the work of The Teaching Council will have a significant impact on the educational environment in Ireland. I am satisfied that the funding and support I am providing in 2006 will meet the continuous professional development needs of school personnel.

Finally, I will continue to ensure that there is a continuation of this upward trend of investment in the very important area of continuous professional development for the teaching profession. Modernising the educational infrastructure in over 3,200 primary and 750 post-primary schools is not an easy task given the legacy of decades of under-investment in this area as well as the need to respond to emerging needs in new population areas. Nonetheless, I am determined to ensure that every child in this country is educated in a suitable and comfortable environment. My commitment to this goal can be judged by the investment of over €2 billion that was spent on school buildings during the period 2000 to 2005 with a further €500 million being invested in 2006. Our infrastructural investment will continue into the future. In the last budget, the Minister for Finance provided €3.9 billion in capital funding for the education sector over the next five years. This increased funding will allow us to greatly improve our education infrastructure at all levels over the next five years.

The scheme of release time was introduced for the 2000/2001 school year. This scheme enables teaching principals of primary schools to be released from their teaching duties for a specified number of days annually to undertake administrative leadership and management functions. The number of days release time allowed varies between 14 and 22 and is determined by the number of mainstream class teachers in the school. Paid substitution is provided by my Department for the days that principals are on release time. Following discussion with the relevant interests, my Department has decided to introduce, on a pilot basis, a system whereby a fully qualified primary school teacher may be employed to act as nominated substitute teacher for the Principals in a cluster of schools taking release days. Twenty clusters have been established under the pilot scheme. The position will be monitored by my Department during the pilot.

My Department is currently engaged in the development of a computerised on-line system for the submission of claims for the payment of certain categories of teachers. The implementation of this project should help to further reduce the administrative burden on principal teachers. The main sources of funding for primary schools are my Department's Capitation grants scheme and the Ancillary services (caretaker/ secretary) grant scheme.

Primary schools' running costs are met by my Department's scheme of capitation grants. These grants are intended to contribute towards the general operating costs of national schools. The capitation grant has been increased substantially in recent years. Since 1997 the standard rate of capitation grant has been increased from €57.14 per pupil to €133.58 with effect from 1st January, 2005 and has been further increased by €12 per pupil with effect from 1st January, 2006 bringing the standard rate to €145.58. This represents an increase of almost 155% in the standard rate of capitation grant since 1997.

Funding to primary schools for secretarial and caretaking services has increased from the €50.79 per pupil that applied in the 2000/2001 school year, to €139.00 per pupil at present. Increased funding for the provision of caretaking and secretarial services was secured to compensate for the phasing out of Community Employment schemes and enabled my Department to put improved secretarial and caretaking supports in place for schools. The significant increase in the funding of schools in the primary sector over recent years is a clear demonstration of my commitment to prioritise available resources to address the needs of primary schools.