Michael D Higgins (Galway West, Labour)
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Question 58: To ask the Minister for Education and Science if she has entered into consultation with the colleges of education in order to increase the number of teachers who will be available to address the projected increase in primary school population over the next ten years and also to reduce class sizes to European norms; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10714/07]

Mary Hanafin (Dún Laoghaire, Fianna Fail)
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The level of student intake to the Colleges of Education is determined annually by my Department and it takes into account the supply of, and demand for, primary teachers while also having regard to available resources. The demand for primary teachers is influenced by a number of factors including: the application of the agreed staffing schedule; demographic trends; the number of teachers opting to take career breaks; the number of secondments approved; teacher retirements including the age at which teachers opt to retire on a voluntary basis; the creation of additional posts in a particular school year. The retention of posts arising from the allocation of the demographic dividend also affect the demand for teachers.

It is considered necessary for my Department to regulate the intake to the colleges of Education as they are fully funded by the taxpayer. My Department consults, on an ongoing basis, with the Colleges of Education on a range of issues, including teacher number requirements. In this context, my Department has agreed the number of new entrants to the B.Ed programme at 1,000 and to the post graduate programme at 280 for the current academic year with the Colleges.

The question of the intake of new entrants to the Colleges of Education, including the question of any increase in the number of teachers required to fill vacancies in our schools, is considered as part of the ongoing consultation process with the Colleges of Education. Major improvements have been made in staffing at primary level in recent years. There are now 5,000 more primary teachers than there were in 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.

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 additional primary teachers approved 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 will 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. Next September this will reduce to 27 children per classroom teacher.

School authorities are requested to ensure that the number of pupils in any class is kept as low as possible, taking all relevant contextual factors into account (e.g. classroom accommodation, fluctuating enrolment). In particular, school authorities should ensure that there is an equitable distribution of pupils in mainstream classes and that the differential between the largest and smallest classes is kept to a minimum.

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.

The improvements we have made in school staffing in recent years are unparalleled. However, this Government is determined to go even further, and so the 2007 Estimates include provision for another 800 primary teachers. About 500 of these will be classroom teachers, which includes our commitment to reduce class sizes.

I assure the Deputy that we will continue to prioritise further improvements in school staffing going forward. We will also continue our focus on measures to improve the quality of education in our primary schools to ensure that increased resources lead to better outcomes for our children.