John Curran (Dublin Mid West, Fianna Fail)
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65. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills if the pupil-teacher ratio in DEIS schools will be reviewed; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27375/19]

Joe McHugh (Donegal, Fine Gael)
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DEIS Plan 2017 acknowledges the allocation of teaching resources to DEIS primary schools with the highest concentrations of children at risk of educational disadvantage has served to improve learning outcomes. It also commits to the evaluation of the level of teaching resources for schools participating in DEIS to be undertaken to inform future policy in this area.

In order to facilitate this a Class Size Working Group was established comprising representatives from the Education Partners, the Educational Research Centre and the relevant Business Units in my Department. This group has met on five occasions to date, to consider what is the optimum and most effective class size to ensure improved learning outcomes of those most at risk of educational disadvantage. A draft of the Report has been circulated to the Group and has been discussed at the most recent meeting last week. Initial feedback and observations are currently being taken on board with a view to a finalised Report before the end of this year. This will help inform future policy in this area.