Overcrowding in classrooms depends on where you live
- Published: 08 September 2008
WHERE you live has a huge impact on the likelihood of your child being squeezed into an overcrowded primary school classroom.
Despite Government spin and its commitment towards reducing class sizes, new figures show that in many areas primary schools are still woefully understaffed.
Irish class sizes are the second highest in the EU.
Last week the Department of Education said the percentage of children in classes of more than 30 had fallen from 25pc in 2006 to 20pc in 2007.
But a breakdown of figures obtained by the Irish Independent shows a huge variation from county to county.
The Department of Education breakdown shows that 12 of 34 local authority zones listed are above the national average for class sizes of 30 or more.
Commuter-belt children are suffering most in the primary school class-size scandal, with those in areas of rapid population growth most likely to be squeezed into overcrowded classes.
In a new embarrassment for Education Minister Batt O'Keeffe, his own constituency county of Cork fares worst of all ; with 27pc of primary pupils in a class of 30 plus.
That compares with a national average of 20.4pc, while Leitrim is the lowest of all, at 9.7pc.
Nationally, the figures show that the average number of pupils in classes of 30-plus fell from 109,376 in 2006/07 to 95,773 in 2007/08.
There were 470,270 primary pupils in 2007/08 and this has increased to around 500,000 this school year.
Mr O'Keeffe welcomed the fall in the national average last week, pointing out that almost 80pc of pupils were in classes of fewer than 30 pupils, compared with 75pc the previous year.
But the situation is a far cry from the government commitment of 2002 to have class sizes of less than 20 for children up to the age of nine, who account for over 50pc of primary school pupils.
The latest figures show that only 64,902, or 14pc of children, are in classes of less than 20 and a further 122,346 are in classes of 20 to 24 pupils.
There are 187,246 in classes of 25 to 29 pupils.
After Cork County in the table ; where towns like Midleton, Fermoy and Bandon have swollen in recent years ; comes Meath, Carlow, Wicklow, Kildare, Limerick County, Louth, Clare, Dun Laoghaire/Rathdown, Fingal, Kilkenny and
Waterford City, all of which have also experienced population booms. Next on the list is Galway city, at 20.1pc.
Pressure
Schools in these areas are also more likely to have a higher proportion of children from international families, putting further pressure on teachers who have to deal with different levels of English language proficiency.
Four areas still have classes with 40 or more pupils ; one each in Cork city, Dublin city, Meath and two in Mayo.
The priority for education spending at primary level this year was the building and staffing of new schools in rapidly- growing areas, and a spokesman for Mr O'Keeffe said they were creating an unprecedented 7,000 new school places.
The spokesman said huge progress had been made on class size, with extra teachers provided in 2006/07 and 2007/08, and pointed out that the average class size for 2007/08 nationally was 23.9, while the pupil-teacher ratio was 16:1.
Mr O'Keeffe said last week that class size was a matter for the management of individual schools.
Speaking about county-bycounty variations, his spokesman said that "with over 20,000 individual classes spread across all schools throughout the country, there will always be differences in individual class sizes".
Irish National Teachers Organisation (INTO) general secretary John Carr attacked "broken government promises" and said while class size was an issue throughout the country, the figures showed the greatest impact of Government failure was being felt in the commuterbelt areas around cities.
Irish class sizes were the second highest in the European Union.Mr Carr blamed a lack of coherent planning which allowed houses to be built without vital infrastructure such as schools and school extensions.
"The end result is that in these counties, particularly huge numbers of children are in super-sized classes where teachers are struggling to implement the curriculum."
He called on Mr O'Keeffe to stop relying on stock phrases relating to the state of the country's finances.
