Parents’ petition - We should be ashamed of class sizes

THE size of primary school classes is such an emotive issue that 200,000 angry parents signed the petition which yesterday landed on the desk of Education Minister Mary Hanafin.

However, in what teachers describe as a cynical tactic to deflect public attention, the first of a series of school inspection reports appeared on the department’s website overnight.

While inspection reports are of much interest to parents, they do not measure schools by exam results, which many see as the most relevant benchmark of performance.

As one-in-10 voters signed the petition, the vexed issue of class size is certain to confront candidates on the doorstep in next year’s general election.

By any yardstick, our primary schools are grossly overcrowded.

To Ireland’s shame the pupil-teacher ratio is one of the worst in Europe.