Tom Hayes (Tipperary South, Fine Gael)
Link to this: Individually | In context

Question 570: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the number of primary school pupils in south Tipperary being taught in classes greater in size than 24 pupils; and the number of classes that exist in south Tipperary's primary schools that exceed the average pupil teacher ratio of 24 pupils per class. [33882/06]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
Link to this: Individually | In context

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 4,000 primary teachers now, 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, including resource teachers etc. As the Deputy will be aware the average class size in South Tipperary last year was below the national average. Children in Tipperary 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. Furthermore, the Government is committed to providing even more primary teachers next year to reduce class sizes. As the Deputy knows 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. Next year (2007/2008 school year) this is being reduced to 27 children per classroom teacher.

The most recent figures in relation to the number of children in classes with more than 24 pupils relate to the last school year. In the 2005/2006 school year there were 158 Ordinary Classes in National Schools in Tipperary South Riding with more than 24 pupils per class. Class sizes in Tipperary have improved significantly under this Government. When this Government came into office, there were 247 Ordinary Classes in National School in Tipperary South with more than 24 pupils per class. 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. Over 280 such posts were sanctioned in the 2006/07 school year compared to 170 in 2005/06. This Government has shown a clear determination to improve the staffing in our schools and we will continue to prioritise this issue going forward.