Written answers

Tuesday, 13 May 2014

Department of Education and Skills

School Staffing

Photo of John Paul PhelanJohn Paul Phelan (Carlow-Kilkenny, Fine Gael)
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238. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills to outline his plans to address the issue of excessively large class sizes at a school (details supplied) in County Dublin; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [20969/14]

Photo of Ruairi QuinnRuairi Quinn (Dublin South East, Labour)
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The criteria used for the allocation of teachers to schools is published annually on the Department's website. The key factor for determining the level of staffing resources provided at individual school level is the staffing schedule for the relevant school year and pupil enrolments on the previous 30 September. The staffing schedule operates in a clear and transparent manner and treats all similar types of schools equally irrespective of location. The configuration of classes and the deployment of classroom teachers are done at local school level. The staffing arrangements for schools for the current school year, 2014/15 are set out in Department Circular 0007/2014 which is available on the website.

My Department publishes annual statistics on class size data for each school. The most recent statistics are for the 2012/13 school year. The national average class size is 24.7 pupils. However, with over 20,800 classes in over 3,100 primary schools throughout the country there will always be variations in class sizes at individual school level. My Department's guidance to local school management is that such variations should be kept to the minimum.

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