Brian Hayes (Dublin South West, Fine Gael)
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Question 543: To ask the Minister for Education and Science the basis on which the classrooms were designed in respect of the generic building design that his Department has established, particularly for expanding areas, in terms of average class size. [40769/08]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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The standard size of a classroom being delivered, whether through the generic repeat design (GRD) concept or traditional design, at primary level is 80 sq metres, including wet area, w/c's, storage and cloakroom facilities.

The details are given in Technical Guidance Document 022, available on my Department's website. 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 staffing schedule for primary teachers was reduced and therefore will not need to be adjusted in light of the current adjustment in the staffing schedule. 80 sq. metres is considered to be the optimum size of classroom and was determined by studies carried out by my Department and in line with international best practice. Older classrooms may be of a smaller size but may have some of the above activities outside of the classroom.

GRD buildings provide the full range of classroom and ancillary accommodation that is achieved using the traditional design method. GRD buildings facilitate speedier delivery of projects, save on design fees and are designed to allow for easy extension if required at a later stage.