Outrage as school faces losing third teacher over ratio change [Independent.ie]
- Published: 23 December 2011
OISIN Foley's parents faced a serious dilemma in September -- their son was only going to be four in October but their local school needed him to enrol, for the numbers.
The Foleys decided to send Oisin to Fybough National School near Castlemaine in Co Kerry, a three-teacher school that needed every child it could get to make sure it had 49 children enrolled to qualify for its third teacher.
Now, because of changes to the pupil/teacher ratio announced in the Budget, the Foleys' gesture may have been in vain.
The Government has retrospectively raised the number of pupils needed to qualify for three teachers from 49 to 51 and now Fybough National School and an estimated 100 other rural schools face the prospect of losing a teacher.
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