CLASS SIZE:THE REPUBLIC is set to have the most overcrowded classes in the EU after the Government's surprise decision to increase class sizes in the Budget.
Overall, the number of teachers in schools in September 2009 is projected to be about 400 fewer, split evenly between primary and secondary, compared to September 2008. This is despite projections of increased pupil numbers, especially at primary level.
It comes after a decade in which the Government made repeated commitments to cut class sizes.
The move has provoked dismay in the education sector and may unleash a national protest campaign from the INTO. Earlier this year, over 18,000 attended public meetings organised by the union on the issue.
Last night Minister for Education Batt O'Keeffe defended the measure. "Sometimes you have to take a step backward to take two steps forward,'' he said.
The Government, he added, faced a difficult choice against a challenging backdrop. It was a question of increasing class sizes or taking teachers out of the system, he said. The Minister said the increase would have no appreciable impact on education. The quality of teaching was the key factor, not the class size, he said.
The decision means enrolment from next September will be based on 28 pupils per class rather than 27 per class in primary schools. Post-primary schools' allocation will be altered from the current 18 to 1 basis to a basis of 19 to 1.
In what the Minister called a "symbolic'' step, class sizes in fee-paying schools will increase by an additional one point adjustment.
Last night, the INTO's general secretary, John Carr, said the move could only be described as "a savage attack on primary education". Other controversial measures in the Budget include:
• The post-primary school transport charge is increasing from an annual fee of €168 for junior cycle children and €234 for senior cycle children to a single annual fee of €300 for post-primary children first payable in summer 2009;
• Substitution cover will be suspended from January 2009 for absences arising from uncertified sick leave in all schools;
• The pilot early retirement scheme for teachers is being suspended with immediate effect;
• The ceiling of two on the number of language support teachers per school is being re-imposed, with unspecified supports for schools with a large number of foreign nationals;
• A saving of €7.5 million will be made, restricting aid for school books to disadvantaged schools;
• Teachers will be withdrawn from schools once designated as disadvantaged that are not in the updated programme;
• There will also be cuts in library grants and in some services to disadvantaged schools.
On school buildings, €581 million funding is being made available, a slight decrease on last year.
