Ruairi Ó Murchú (Louth, Sinn Fein)
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124. To ask the Minister for Education and Skills her plans to tackle large class sizes; if a commitment will be made to undertake an audit of class sizes; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [45567/21]

Norma Foley (Kerry, Fianna Fail)
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Under the Programme for Government there is a commitment to seek to make further progress in reducing the pupil teacher ratios in primary schools.

Teacher allocations to all schools are approved annually by my Department in accordance with established rules based on recognised pupil enrolment on the previous 30 September. The criteria for the allocation of posts are communicated to school management annually and are available on the Department website.

As part of the Budget 2021 measures, the Government have sought to deliver on this commitment by the announcement of a 1 point change to the primary staffing schedule and the introduction of a three point reduction in the number of pupils needed to retain a teacher. For the 2021/22 school year the staffing schedule is on the basis of 1 classroom teacher for every 25 pupils. This is the lowest pupil teacher ratio ever at primary school.

The latest figures in relation to pupil teacher ratio shows an improved ratio of teachers to pupils from 16:1 to 14.5:1 at primary level when comparing the 2015/16 school year to the 2020/21 school year. This compares favourably with the OECD pupil teacher ratio which is 1:15. The staffing schedule has improved from 28:1 to 25:1 and average class sizes improved from 24.9 to 23.3 in the same period. The most recent budget announcement will continue the positive trend of improving class sizes for this school year, and statistics on this will be published later in the year.

At post primary level, teachers are currently allocated at a ratio of 19:1 in the free education system and 23:1 to schools in the fee charging sector. As part of COVID-19 operational supports, 1,000 additional teachers have been allocated to post-primary schools to help reduce class sizes. A teacher allocation equivalent to a pupil teacher ratio reduction of 0.6 has been allocated to schools in the free scheme. This allocation supports the important work of teaching and learning and provide additional teachers needed to support teacher substitution, management of physical distancing requirements by reallocating class timetables in schools to smaller groups class sizes where necessary. These posts will also provide for management supports. In addition an allocation, equivalent to a pupil teacher ratio reduction of 0.1 has been provided in respect of Guidance provision to support student wellbeing.

Any further improvement will have to be considered in the context of the annual budgetary process.

The Statistics Section of my Department's website contains extensive data in relation to our schools including pupil teacher ratios and teacher numbers.