Written answers

Thursday, 12 October 2006

Department of Education and Science

School Enrolments

5:00 pm

Photo of Catherine MurphyCatherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Question 162: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of section 29 appeals that have been lodged with her Department pertaining to matters arising for academic year 2006 to 2007; the number of these appeals per county; the number of these appeals which have resulted in the enrolment of the student in question; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32552/06]

Photo of Mary HanafinMary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The information requested by the Deputy is held by my Department on a calendar year rather than a school year basis. Accordingly, the following statistics on appeal hearings dealing with refusals to enrol reflect those appeals which have been dealt with from the 1st January 2006 to date.

Table 1: Section 29 Appeal Hearings — Refusal to Enrol — 01/01/06 to 10/10/06
UpheldNot upheldTotal
Cavan303
Clare3710
Cork369
Donegal101
Dublin9514
Galway246
Kerry011
Kildare639
Limerick011
Longford011
Louth011
Mayo101
Meath718
Offaly112
Westmeath202
Wexford404
Wicklow202
Total443175

Photo of Catherine MurphyCatherine Murphy (Kildare North, Independent)
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Question 163: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of students enrolled in Kildare schools for the academic year 2006 to 2007 whose class size is between 28 to 30 students; the number whose class size is between 31 to 33 students; the number whose class size is at or above 34; if her Department has identified the schools where pupil teacher ratios are substantially above the average: the strategies which have been devised for each of these schools in order to counteract this serious problem; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [32553/06]

Photo of Mary HanafinMary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The information requested by the Deputy is provided in the annual census of primary schools. The reference date for the provision by schools of this information is the 30th September of the school year in question.

As the details for the current school year have not been collated as of yet, I am not in a position to provide the information to the Deputy.

As the Deputy will be aware, major improvements have been made in staffing at primary in recent years. At the beginning of the current school year there are no less than 4000 extra teachers in our primary schools, compared with 2002. The average class size in our primary schools is 24 and there is now one teacher for 17 pupils at primary level.

Children with special needs and those from disadvantaged areas are getting more support than ever before to help them to make the most of their time at school.

Indeed, with the thousands of extra primary teachers hired by this Government, recent years have seen the largest expansion in teacher numbers since the expansion of free education. Over the next two school years even more teachers will be put in place both for the above priority areas of disadvantage and special education and also under a reduction in the mainstream staffing schedule.

As you know all primary schools are staffed on a general rule of at least one classroom teacher for every 28 children. 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 28 children in the school. In the 2007/2008 school year, this is being reduced to 27 children per classroom teacher.

A further initiative that has been of direct benefit to primary schools has been the change in the criteria for developing schools. For the current school year the threshold for getting a developing school post was reduced specifically to help schools that are seeing large increases in enrolments each year, as is the case in Kildare. 170 such posts were sanctioned in the 2005/06 school year, compared to 105 in 2004/05.

This Government has shown a clear determination to improve the staffing in our schools and we will continue to prioritise this issue going forward.

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