Jimmy Devins (Sligo-North Leitrim, Fianna Fail)
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Question 642: To ask the Minister for Education and Science his views on changing the date for calculation of teacher numbers from September of the previous year to 31 May of the current year, if necessary getting the board of management and the parents to certify that the enrolling pupils are applied to enroll in one school only. [22291/09]

Batt O'Keeffe (Cork North West, Fianna Fail)
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In terms of the position at individual primary school level the key factor for determining the level of resources provided by my Department is the pupil enrolment at 30 September of the previous school year. The annual process of seeking this enrolment data from schools takes place in the autumn of each year and enables the commencement of the processes by which teaching resources are allocated to schools for the school year that begins each September.

This process involves my Department writing to schools in the early part of each calendar year. The final position for any one school is dependent on a number of other factors such as additional posts for primary schools that are developing rapidly and posts allocated as a result of the appeals processes. The operation of redeployment arrangements also impacts on the final position as a teacher can remain in his or her existing school where a suitable redeployment position does not exist.

It would not be feasible to carry out the above process in advance of the start of each school year if the date for calculation of teacher numbers was changed to 31 May. However, I want to assure the Deputy that the current system at primary level takes account of the needs of schools that have rapidly rising enrolments by the allocation of developing posts to these schools based on current year enrolments.

I am of course committed to providing information in relation to the allocation of teachers to schools in as timely a fashion as possible and as a new feature on my Department's website. The process has begun with the provision earlier this year of initial information on the allocation of teachers to schools. It is my intention to have this information updated and ultimately to set out the final position when the allocation processes are completed.