Joe Carey (Clare, Fine Gael)
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Question 498: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the alterations he plans to put in place to teach the primary curriculum with the proposed increase in the pupil-teacher ratio; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [38192/08]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The standard size of a classroom at primary level is 80 sq metres and this has been the standard size for rooms constructed in recent years. It allowed plenty of space for the range of activities carried out under the modern school curriculum in times before the pupil teacher ratio was reduced and therefore will not need to be adjusted in light of the current adjustment in the pupil teacher ratio.

When the country was able to afford it, we reduced the basis on which primary teachers are allocated to schools from being based on an average number of pupils per teacher from 35 pupils down to the current level of 27 pupils. The change to a new average of 28 pupils per teacher has to be viewed in that context. It means primary schools will be staffed exactly as they were during the 2006/2007 school year during which they operated well. The net overall position is a reduction of about 200 posts from the primary teacher payroll next September compared to this September across all the staffing measures involving primary schools.

While I appreciate the change will impact on class sizes and accordingly on the number of pupils in a classroom the reality is that it will not impact on every school rather the change will impact on the total number of teachers in some 10 to 15% of primary schools.