Finian McGrath (Dublin North Central, Independent)
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Question 283: To ask the Minister for Education and Science when the reports on pupil-teacher ratio, the task force on physical sciences and the task force on discipline will be implemented. [20032/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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I am pleased to inform the Deputy that since the McGuinness report was published, significant improvements have been made in the actual pupil teacher ratio at post primary. The ratio has fallen from 15.1:1 in the 1999/00 school year to 13.4:1 in the 2004/05 school year. The reduction in the pupil teacher ratio since 1997 was achieved through the creation of almost 1,800 new posts and the retention of over 2,000 posts that would otherwise have been lost due to falling enrolments.

Significant progress has also been made in the whole area of the physical sciences, since the Task Force on the Physical Sciences reported. A new science curriculum has been introduced at primary level and a revised syllabus in Junior Certificate Science was introduced in 2003 and will be examined for the first time in June 2006. Revised syllabi in Leaving Certificate Physics, Chemistry and Biology have also been introduced and examined within the last five years. Work on the revision of the two remaining Leaving Certificate subjects — Agricultural Science and Physics and Chemistry (combined) — is well advanced. The introduction of each of the revised syllabi has been supported by comprehensive in-service programmes for teachers. Additional equipment grants have been provided to schools, and laboratories continue to be refurbished as part of the ongoing school building programme. A review of mathematics at post-primary level is also being undertaken by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment (NCCA).

In launching "School Matters" the final Report of the Task Force on Student Behaviour in Second Level Schools, on the 14th March, I outlined a package of measures to tackle student behaviour issues. In my view, implementation of the report must be approached in a prioritised and carefully structured way. The measures I have announced include: a review of existing legislation; the putting in place of a Behaviour Support Team; the establishment of up to 30 behaviour support classrooms on a trial basis; appropriate and focused expansion of the Junior Certificate Schools Programme; and a review of existing alternative provision, from which a comprehensive plan for out of school provision will be prepared.

The report's recommendations require action and engagement from a wide range of participants in our education system. For my part, as Minister, I have given a clear statement of my commitment to sustained and considered action in dealing with the issue of student behaviour.